


The Kingdom

by ghastly7



Series: Among the Rifts [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Evil Bad Guy - Freeform, F/F, Nothing is Sacred, Weiss actually exists in this story, Yin and Moon are back, and they will be facing a lot of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-04-30 08:24:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 33,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14492856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghastly7/pseuds/ghastly7
Summary: Something goes horribly awry for Blake and Yang's kids on a huntress mission against the strongest enemy they've ever faced.Rated Mature to signify that this story is considerably darker than the last two.Please read The Child and The Mother before reading this one, or else you'll be very confused.





	1. Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to post this: I was honestly terrified of the reception that this would get, so writing the last few chapters was a grueling process.
> 
> But here it is! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S., It's just a happy accident that I posted this at the beginning of Bumbleby week. It wasn't actually intentional!
> 
> P.P.S., I hope you haven't gotten too attached to any of the characters.

Yin was knocked several feet away from her attacker, kicking up dust clouds as she slid across the ground. As she fell away, Moon rushed in to attack, but was sent tumbling as easily as Yin was.

Yin and Moon were now both full huntresses, Moon having graduated from Beacon only a few months prior to this mission. Before Moon had graduated, Yin took some easy jobs on her own, and occasionally took some more difficult ones with her girlfriends. Yes, girlfriends. Both of them. Deal with it.

When Moon  _ had _ graduated, though, Yin started going on missions with her and  _ her  _ girlfriend, Nina Frost. Nina wasn’t able to come on this mission because of a friend needing her help with something, so it was just the two sisters for this one. They went to the huntsman mission boards and picked a mission that was rated as suitable for huntresses of their general level of experience.

But the board seemed to be entirely wrong. They arrived at a large camp to the south of Vale with a large clearing in the middle of it. When they showed up, many of the people living there drew their weapons at the huntresses. And they weren’t like generic tribesmen. They were as diverse as any huntsmen that the two sisters had ever seen. And, to Yin’s dismay, there was at least one familiar face that she was able to pick out from the crowd. A chameleon faunus, wielding a sniper rifle. Her feline ears dropped to her head when she saw him.

But then, a man with brown hair and red clothing came out of the biggest and most lavish of the semi-permanent tents. He told all of the others to stand down, and drew his two short katanas. He then casually introduced himself as Vermillion. That was who they were sent to stop. There was never a last name given.

The man insisted that none of his allies were to join the fight, even though he was outnumbered two to one. Yin thought that this was foolish pride.

She started to rethink that notion when they were being beaten to a pulp and hadn’t managed to land a single hit on Vermillion.

Yin got back to her feet and lunged at her target, blades at the ready from the contraptions on her wrists. She tried blow after blow, but he was able to block every single one with only one of his swords. Then he stomped at her leg. Her aura took the brunt of the hit, but it still forced her to a kneeling position on the ground. He brought both swords down in an overhead slice, which Yin had to clumsily leap to the side to avoid.

Then Moon jumped in, twirling her double-sided scythe. Vermillion blocked three strikes, then made a swipe of his own. Moon was just able to use the bar in the middle of her weapon to stop the blade, but it left her face wide open. She stumbled backwards after her enemy struck her straight between the eyes with the hilt of his other sword.

Yin tried to sneak up from behind and get a cheap shot on him, but it seemed that he knew that she was there. He spun around and hit her solidly with the slices of both swords. Her yellow aura fizzled, but stayed alive.

The man then was fighting a huntress on either side of him and wasn’t getting hit at all. He blocked attacks like they were nothing. And what was particularly infuriating to Yin was the fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself.

After somehow managing to deflect buckshot from the shotguns on Moon’s weapon, Vermillion kicked the black-haired faunus squarely in the stomach. She was knocked backwards, and Vermillion took the opportunity to roundhouse-kick Yin, causing her to double over.

Then he set his sights back on Moon, who was struggling back to her feet. When she saw him coming, it was too late. A blade sliced the rest of her aura away, and then the hilt of his other sword hit her across the top of her head, causing her to see stars and drop helplessly to the ground.

“Moon!” Yin called out before charging in to protect her sister.

Vermillion just smirked as he countered her flurry of blows. Then, suddenly realizing that being this close was stupid when she could only take about one more hit, Yin put some distance between them and formed a light orb above her head with her semblance. She shot it at her enemy, but Vermillion simply sidestepped its path. She threw sphere after sphere of light, but the swordsman would either just dodge or knock them away like ping-pong balls.

Then he was on her again, this time on the offensive. He sliced again and again from both directions, and Yin was only able to block so many. Her aura blinked out, and Vermillion kicked her to the ground.

“They should have sent some more experienced huntresses,” he said, walking forward to stand above Yin. “I assume you’ve had enough.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Yin said. She saw Moon on the ground behind him, trying to get to her feet, but not succeeding.

“I didn’t expect you would be,” Vermillion said. “After all, you  _ are _ the daughters of Yang Xiao Long, who the public knows as one of the most fearless people in Remnant.”

Yin’s eyes widened a little bit. Her targets usually didn’t know so much about who she was.

“You do look a lot like her,” Vermillion continued. “Of course not all of you looks like her,” he looked at her right arm, “but that can be fixed.”

___

 

“Surprise!” Ruby yelled before hugging her sister in the doorway.

“Ruby! Hi!” Yang said. 

“This  _ is  _ a surprise,” Blake said. “It’s good to see you!”

“Not only that, I brought a guest!” Ruby gestured behind herself at a disgruntled-looking Weiss Schnee.

“Weiss!” Blake and Yang said at the same time, pulling her into a huge hug.

Weiss couldn’t help but smile and reciprocate the hug. “It is really nice to see you guys in person,” she said. When the hug ended, she continued, “But I didn’t exactly  _ agree  _ to this meeting, either. I was just taking a walk outside of the Schnee Dust Company Headquarters, and then a red blur hit me and suddenly I was on an airship bound for Vale.” Weiss glared at Ruby, who rubbed the back of her head with a nervous giggle.

After gesturing for them all to move into the living room, Blake said, “Weiss, when was the last time that you took a vacation out of Atlas?”

Weiss thought for a moment. “I think it was Yin’s graduation.”

“Weiss, that was more than a year ago,” Yang said. “Take a break, girl!”

“I believe in efficiency,” was Weiss’s only response.

“Weiss, friend, pal, you’ve got plenty of people you can trust in the SDC. Let them take over for a few days,” Ruby said.

“I know, I already made those calls on the airship,” Weiss said. Then she blushed a little bit. “Look, I wouldn’t cancel a team RWBY get-together. You guys mean a lot to me.”

“Awwww, cute,” Yang said.

“I will freeze you to your chair,” the white-haired former-heiress said.

“And there’s the Weiss we remember,” Blake said. Then they laughed, even Weiss.

“So, how are the girls? Are they out on a mission right now?” Weiss asked.

“Actually,” Blake said, “you came at the perfect time. They should be back soon, and they said that they’d visit us when they’re done.”

The doorbell rang.

“In fact, I bet that’s them now,” Blake said, getting up from her chair.

She walked to the door and opened it. Behind it, Moon was carrying Yin in a bridal carry. A grin crept up onto Blake’s face. The two daughters did this often, got into silly poses before Blake or Yang opened the door, just to get a couple of laughs.

Blake’s smile disappeared when she saw the red.

Yin was absolutely covered in her own blood, and it had smeared over Moon’s clothing, too. Moon was looking at her mother with a look of pure fear, and received a look of horror in response.

Yin’s right arm was gone.

“Fuck,” Blake said in a shaky voice.


	2. Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yin and Moon are not okay after what just happened, and team RWBY tries to help.

Yang and Blake were panicking over Yin, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. Moon stumbled blankly around the room, then dropped to her knees and was sick on the floor. Ruby rushed over to help her. And Weiss just stood there, covering her mouth in shock.

“Hey, Moon, why don’t you go take a shower? Get all of… this off of you,” Ruby said, gesturing to the blood stains on Moon’s shirt and trying her hardest to look cheerful and positive.

Moon just stared blankly up at her, trembling.

“Okay, up we go,” Ruby said, helping Moon to her feet. She then supported her niece as they walked upstairs, Moon in a perpetual state of semi-consciousness.

Blake and Yang finally finished bandaging their unconscious daughter. As the panic faded away, the tears started coming. Blake started stroking Yin’s face, whispering promises of safety to her through the tears, even though she couldn’t hear them. Yang stood up and paced, beating her palms against her head and letting her eyes flicker uncontrollably between purple and red.

“God dammit!” Yang yelled, eyes red at the moment but covered in tears. “Whoever did this did it extremely deliberately!”

“W-what?” Blake said with a lump in her throat.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice!” Yang yelled, but then she blinked and her eyes were purple again and filled with sadness. “Look.” She pressed a button on her mechanical arm and didn’t even bother to catch it as it fell off and clattered to the ground. She knelt down on the blood-stained ground on Yin’s right and gestured to her child’s stump with her own. “Look.”

Blake didn’t want to believe it, but she was right. The cut was in the exact same place. A quick flash in her mind of the night that Beacon fell confirmed that.

“Who… why would…” Blake couldn’t get any of the thousands of things she wanted to say to leave her throat.

“I don’t know…” Yang slumped onto the ground and ran a hand through her daughter’s yellow hair. “I just… don’t know…”

Blake took a moment to compose herself, and when the grief started going away, rage took its place.

“We’re going to fucking kill whatever son of a bitch did this to our daughter,” she said, clenching her fists but refusing to wipe away her tears.

Weiss suddenly snapped out of her stupor and walked towards a suitcase that she had brought with her. She pulled Myrtenaster out of it.

“I won’t stand for this. Whoever did this is going down.”

Yang just stared at the ground.

“Yang?” Weiss tentatively asked.

The brawler just made a slight nod. Then, after a moment, she sniffled and said with a shaky voice, “I- I need a minute. I’m sorry.”

The anger in Blake's face turned to compassion and worry in an instant. “Yang, don’t apologize. This… this is all fucked up. This never should have happened. Take all the time you need. While you do that, I’m going to go check on Moon. See how well she’s… dealing with this.”

“I’ll call an ambulance for Yin,” Weiss said, taking out her scroll.

“Thanks,” Blake said before heading upstairs.

She walked to the master bathroom, where Ruby was leaning next to the door, listening very closely in case something went wrong.

“How is she doing?” Blake asked, suddenly exhausted from all of the emotions she had been feeling.

Ruby sighed. “I guess she’s doing as well as someone who carried their dismembered sister all the way back home could be doing…”

“Um, want to be a little more specific?”

“She saw her sister’s arm get cut off and then she ended up here. What the fuck do you want from me, Blake?!” Ruby clenched her fists and glared.

“Whoa, Ruby, calm down,” Blake said, raising her hands.

“I’m sorry,” Ruby said, then took a deep breath. “I’m not just their aunt. I was their teacher at Beacon. And I feel like I failed at that, since this happened so soon after they graduated. I just… I could’ve prepared them for this.”

“No you couldn’t have. Whoever did this did it very deliberately. And nothing will  _ ever _ prepare you for someone close to you getting hurt like this,” Blake said. “Trust me, I know.”

“Vermillion.”

“Huh?” Blake asked.

“Moon was mumbling to herself when I helped her up the stairs,” Ruby said. “The guy’s name was Vermillion.”

Then they heard a loud crash in the bathroom. Blake practically bashed the door open, and saw Moon lying naked on the floor with blood dripping from her head. Her eyes were wide, like what had just happened had suddenly registered in her head.

“Moon! Are you okay?!” Blake said, immediately rushing to her aid.

“U-um… I uh… um…”

“Ruby, could you go get her some clothes from her room?” Blake requested.

Ruby nodded and was about to use her semblance, but realized that Blake probably wanted to talk alone with Moon for a bit and decided to walk instead.

“Hey, baby girl,” Blake said, grabbing a damp washcloth and wiping the blood off of her daughter’s forehead. There was a matching spot of blood on the edge of the porcelain sink.

“I… got dizzy…” Moon said.

“It’s okay, honey. You’ve been through a lot. You’re in a little bit of shock right now, and that’s okay. Just… take it easy, alright? For me?”

Moon nodded weakly, then Blake pulled the hair out of her face and put a bandage on the small cut on her forehead.

“There, good as new,” Blake said. But then Moon started sobbing. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I-I-I’m a coward… I should have been able to protect Yin… and-and I didn’t and-and after he did what he did he-” she swallowed, “he told me to run home and… that’s exactly what I did. I just ran like a c-coward!”

“Moon, no one is calling you a coward. What you did kept both you and your sister alive. This… Vermillion… he’s a sick psychopath. There’s no question about it. You and your sister could have died, but you didn’t because of the choice you made.”

“B-but… I thought I was at least a decent huntress…” Moon’s voice started to become more steady. “And Yin’s a great huntress… but even working together, neither of us could land a hit on him… he was impossible to stop…”

“Moon, you’re an amazing huntress. But this man is… I don’t know what. What I do know is that no one is impossible to stop, and this Vermillion has made a terrible mistake.”

Moon’s lilac eyes began to focus on her mother’s face. “What’s that?”

“He’s gotten on team RWBY’s bad side,” Ruby said, tossing some clean clothes into the room. “It’s the worst and last mistake he’ll make.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now everyone's pissed off.
> 
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, as are your other comments. You guys rock, remember that!


	3. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY heads off to Vermillion's camp.

The ambulance came and took Yin away near dusk. Blake gave all of their contact information to one of the nurses, in case anything happened.

After that, she called Moon’s girlfriend to see if she could come over and take care of her. Nina responded with immediate concern, and a definitive yes.

That night, Yang and Blake collectively got only about three hours of sleep. There was just too much stress and too much to think about. Weiss hardly slept at all, as she had gotten used to the safety of the SDC headquarters and now suddenly felt… vulnerable. Ruby did sleep, but continually woke up and walked down the hall to check on Moon, who was always fully awake and staring at the wall through the darkness.

So, needless to say, no one was particularly happy in the morning.

They got all of the information they could out of Moon without pushing too hard, and called a bullhead.

“Hey,” Weiss shook Yang’s shoulder gently. “Are you doing any better?”

“Better? No,” Yang said. “But I’m more angry than sad now.”

“That’s good,” Ruby said, stepping into the bullhead after them. “I am too. And I plan to unleash that anger on someone whose name starts with V.”

“So, where are you lovely ladies headed?” the pilot asked.

“Ace, drop the act,” Blake said. “This is serious.”

Weiss tilted her head, “His name is Ace?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not,” Yang whispered into her ear. “I think he just calls himself that.”

“He’s one of the best pilots we know, and he'd be the first one to tell you that,” Blake said.

“Well, what’s the use in being the best if you can’t brag about it?” Ace said. “So, where’s our destination?”

“South of Vale,” Blake said, handing him some coordinates. “We have some vengeance to dish out.”

“Roger that, Miss Prissycat,” Ace said.

“Ace, never call me that again,” the black-haired faunus said. “I  _ can _ hurt you.”

“But then you would lose the best pilot you’ve ever known,” Ace said.

Blake sighed. “Yeah, I guess I would,” she said dejectedly.

The bullhead began taking off. “Next stop, southern Vale. Please fasten your seatbelts and refrain from stabbing my equipment,” Ace said.

“That was  _ one time, _ Ace,” Ruby said with a scowl.

Ace just laughed. “Here we go.”

___

 

Yang, Weiss, and Ruby dozed off while the ship was flying, but promptly woke up when the explosions started.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asked, rushing to the cockpit.

“Everything’s fine,” Ace said. Another explosion happened close below them. “Totally under control.”

Yang looked at Blake. “What’s actually going on?”

“They’re shooting at us with fire dust,” Blake said. “I’m glad that you guys are up, because we might end up having a rough landing.”

“No chance,” Ace said. “We won’t be able to land in the camp like I wanted to, but I’m not gonna let us crash.”

Then he turned the engine off entirely, and they started to drop from the sky.

“What are you doing?!” Weiss yelled.

An explosion above them shook the bullhead.

“Avoiding that,” Ace said, before gunning the engines upward. The change in speed knocked all of the huntresses off of their feet. Then he made a sharp turn, which sent all of the women crashing into the wall.

“Ow!” Ruby yelled.

“Seatbelts exist for a reason, ladies,” their pilot said.

Then the ship went shooting forward, sending team RWBY flying into yet another wall of the ship. Ruby used her semblance to dash into a seat and quickly buckle her seatbelt, leaving the others to be catapulted around the ship on their own.

Several explosions and several evasive actions later, the ship landed in the woods near the camp.

“This is our last stop,” Ace said. “Please exit the bullhead in a calm and orderly fashion.”

Blake and Yang tumbled out of the doors.

“I think I finally understand Jaune’s flying problem,” Yang said.

“It wasn’t  _ that _ bad,” Weiss said.

Blake glared at her. “Not all of us have glyphs to keep us in place the entire ride.”

“Um, guys?” Ruby said, peeking her head out of the bay doors.

They all looked in front of them to see three armed men, and a giant dust cannon aimed directly at them.

“Hi there,” said the largest of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ace, the world's most egotistical pilot. Yay.
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying so far. I'm already seeing a few familiar faces in the comments, but I certainly wouldn't mind to see some new ones too!
> 
> Have a remarkably enjoyable day!


	4. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to meet Vermillion.

“Well, I didn’t think that this was going to be how I died,” Ruby said as they all drew their weapons cautiously. “Exploded point-blank by a dust cannon.”

“You won’t be, if you make the right decision,” the large enemy said. He had bright red, intimidating armor, and a white helmet with a spike on top. He was even bigger than Hazel and Ghira Belladonna.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever fought huntresses before,” Yang said, “but you should know that threatening us is not going to make us agree to your terms.”

“That may be true, if we  _ were  _ threatening  _ you _ ,” the towering man said before he pressed a button on a remote. The cannon turned slightly to face the cockpit of the bullhead. “We know that none of you are particularly skilled at flying, so you must have a pilot. It would be a shame if they were to lose their life in a fight that wasn’t theirs.”

All of the huntresses lowered their weapons. Blake sighed. “Fine, what do you want?”

Another man, wearing green clothing and wielding a spike ball on a huge chain responded. “Vermillion knows of your challenge to combat, and accepts. However, you have to choose one of you to fight him. The others will stay here and fight us.”

The last man, a chameleon faunus whose skin was currently pitch black and who was wielding a sniper rifle, nodded. Blake remembered him from the forests of Mistral.

“What, you don’t have anything to say about this?” she asked him, “Or about how you tried to kill my daughter all those years ago?”

The faunus just looked at her.

Then the armored man laughed. “Octavian isn’t much of a talker. I think he thinks of himself as more of a  _ silent _ killer.”

“Maybe you should learn from him,” Weiss said.

The man just smirked. “That’s hurtful, princess. You’re telling me to shut up before I’ve even introduced myself!” he said. “I am Kopec Cervene, from Vale. And this one with the ball and chain is… well we don’t know what his name is. He won’t tell us. He just goes by Forest, because he’s weird like that.”

“I, like, literally couldn’t care less right now,” Yang said.

“You don’t have to care who we are,” Forest said. “You just have to make a decision on who’s going to fight Vermillion.” He took out his own remote. “Unless you want your pilot to be in several pieces.”

“Yeah, I would prefer to not get exploded,” Ace yelled from the cockpit.

“I’ll go,” Yang said.

“No, I will,” Blake said, grabbing Yang’s wrist. “Moon said that this guy uses swords, and I’m more equipped to deal with that.” She nodded her head towards her weapon, Gambol Shadow. It was exactly the same as Gambol Shroud, but this one was still intact and not laying in an abandoned Division Three base.

Yang looked like she was about to argue, but stopped herself. “You’re probably right. Just, be careful. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my daughter’s arm  _ and _ my wife within two days of each other.”

Blake nodded, and the three enemies moved out of her way as she approached the camp.

“So,” said Forest, “shall we begin?”

An explosion of dust sent his spiked ball hurtling towards Weiss. She hardly got her sword up in time to block it, and the force of the hit almost knocked Myrtenaster clean out of her grasp.

“This is going to be fun!” Kopec said, charging in.

___

 

Blake entered the camp, and saw many humans and faunus in the camp grinning eerily at her. She walked into a large, dirt clearing in the camp that looked like it was actually made for combat.

“Blake Belladonna,” a man behind her said. “Or is it Xiao Long now? Your last names have always been an enigma.”

She turned to face him. He matched Moon’s description- brown hair, green eyes, and red clothes. And two sheathed katanas. This was Vermillion, all right.

“I took a souvenir from your daughter, I hope you don’t mind,” he said.

“Fuck you,” was Blake’s only response. She unsheathed Gambol Shadow and fired two shots. Vermillion blocked them easily with his own blade.

“Hey, we shouldn’t start fighting yet. You haven’t even heard about why I chose to lure your daughters here,” he said.

“No, they chose a mission to take you out,” Blake said. “You had nothing to do with it.”

“Ha, a mission that just-so-happened to be at their exact skill level at the exact time they were looking for it?” Vermillion grinned. “I didn’t used to think that huntsmen were corrupt, but seeing how easy it was to put up a fake contract makes me think that Doctor Blanc may have been right.”

Blake scowled at him. “Why do you know about that?”

“I did my research,” Vermillion said. “By the way, did you like the trick where I made your daughters show up at your house? I bet you hadn’t thought about the fact that Moon couldn’t have crossed the Patch Channel on foot.”

Blake hated it, but he was right. She  _ hadn’t _ thought about that.

“All it took was a little, special device,” Vermillion said, taking a rounded, black disk out of one of his pockets.

Blake immediately recognized the device. It was the rift-creating device that was in each of Mars Blanc’s robots. “How… where did you get that? The person who made those is dead!”

“Oh, I know that, but I have another scientist who seemed to know just as much about them,” Vermillion gestured at a man in the crowd.

Blake knew him. She knew that cocky smile, that bad haircut, and that crooked mustache.

“Watts,” she said with hatred in her voice. “You seem to be hanging out with the same kind of crowd.”

“I believe that consistency is important,” Watts commented. “Vermillion, if you kill her, please make it as painless as possible. She and her wife  _ did  _ help me get out of prison, after all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vermillion said, turning back to Blake. “Now, either drop your weapon and flee, or raise it and fight.”

Blake gritted her teeth and raised her sword. “Who the fuck do you think you are, ordering me around?!”

“You know what, you’re right,” Vermillion said. “I haven't properly introduced myself.”

“I  _ really  _ don’t care,” Blake snarled.

“Oh, but I do. So, without further ado” he drew his swords. “I am Vermillion Ozark, great great grandson of the king of Vale, and rightful heir to the throne of Remnant.”

“And what does that mean to me?” Blake narrowed her eyes.

“It means that I’m not going to let you get in my way,” Vermillion said, charging towards Blake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I thought that in the actual lore of the show, Vale is a little too 'goody two-shoes' for my tastes. So I wanted to have something bad come out of Vale's history.
> 
> By the way, I'm going with the assumption that the King of Vale's name was Ozark, because I've seen a post that shows why that's probably what the name is. Go try to find it, because I'm sure that I won't be able to explain it better than they did.
> 
> Other than that, have a good day and stay safe!


	5. Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the fighting really begins...

Weiss tightened her grip on her sword as she blocked another strike of the spiked ball with her thin blade.

As soon as the fight had started, the three enemies maneuvered themselves in a way that forced the rest of team RWBY to split up. It seemed that Forest had chosen Weiss as his target.

As she stumbled from the recoil of the impact, Forest pulled the ball back towards himself. “You’re from Atlas, like me. You should know how effective our military is.”

Weiss looked at him with a smirk. “Maybe, but the fall of Beacon wasn’t their brightest moment.”

The man just shrugged. “Everyone makes mistakes,” he said, “and bringing almost all of our military forces to Vale was most certainly a mistake. But on our own turf, protecting our own people, we are unstoppable.”

“You say 'we’...” Weiss tilted her head a little.

“I suppose I shouldn’t,” Forest said. “I used to be part of the Atlas military. High ranking, too. But that all ended when I had some ideas that they weren’t ready for.”

“Do you always talk this much in the middle of battle?” Weiss scowled, then used a glyph and propelled herself toward her enemy, blade at the ready. As she made contact, though, a piece of green armor around Forest’s forearm unfolded into a shield and blocked her lunge.

“I guess I only do it when it’s someone I really hate,” Forest said, bashing her away with his shield. Then another dust explosion sent the spiked ball hurtling towards Weiss.

She rolled out of the way, then stepped on the chain, pinning the weapon to the ground. Then she stabbed Myrtenaster in between the links of the chain. A summoning glyph appeared on the ground beside her, and a massive, plated arm emerged from it, pulling the rest of her knight's body with it.

Then the spiked ball propelled itself upwards, slamming into Weiss and sending her and her blade spiraling through the air. Her summoning circle flickered and died, bringing the knight with it. She landed on the ground with a thud.

“Look at you,” Forest said. “The owner of the Schnee Dust Company. You have huge responsibilities, and yet here you are playing huntress.”

Weiss pushed herself back to her feet and grabbed Myrtenaster from where it had fallen to the ground. “Maybe if your employer hadn’t cut off my goddaughter’s arm I  _ wouldn’t  _ be here.”

“Huntsmen are a thing of the past, Ms. Schnee,” Forest continued. “They’re impractical, they’re messy, and they are easily corrupted. Vermillion is going to make the world work without them. He’s not my employer, he’s a genius.”

“Well, I hope he feels smart when Blake’s sword cuts his head off,” Weiss said with a smirk.

Forest just made a dismissive hum and prepared to swing his weapon again.

 

Ruby took cover behind the bullhead from the sniper shots that Octavian was raining upon her.

“Come on, come on, reload,” she whispered to herself, listening closely for the moment that the shots stopped coming.

As soon as that moment came, she blasted towards the chameleon faunus in a blur of rose petals. His weapon wasn’t even able to transform fully into its axe form before she tackled him to the ground. She leapt off of him, grabbed Crescent Rose, and send the sharp end right in the former Division Three member’s direction. He rolled out of the way, and the scythe point embedded itself into the ground where he used to be.

Then he swung at Ruby with his axe, causing her to have to abandon her grip on her weapon in order to dodge. It became an aggressive dance, Octavian swinging at Ruby and Ruby dodging for a few minutes straight. Then Octavian fired two sniper shots at Ruby, and she took the chance to dash around them with her semblance and grab her scythe once again.

Octavian came at her with his blade, but this time she was ready. She shot Crescent Rose to gain some speed, and the flat end on the scythe hit the faunus straight in the chest, sending him sliding backwards.

“You aren’t fighting for faunus,” Ruby said with anger in her silver eyes. “You’ve never been fighting for faunus. You’re just fighting for yourself! Otherwise you wouldn’t be working with the man who cut off my  _ faunus _ niece’s arm!”

Octavian’s face showed no emotion, but the shift his skin took from black to red said everything.

Ruby looked at the fight happening between her sister and the goliath-of-a-man Kopec. They were in a standoff, their fists connecting with each punch and no damage being done on either side. Yang looked to be getting extremely frustrated while Kopec was laughing in enjoyment.

Ruby looked back to her own enemy to see a barrel of a gun pointed straight towards her once again. She dashed back into her cover behind the bullhead, and the sound of bullets hitting metal followed her.

_ Sorry Blake, _ Ruby thought.  _ Seems like help’s not coming any time soon. _

___

 

It was a blur of swords clashing. Blake tried every trick, every strike, and every move she had ever learned, but it was like this guy knew every move she was going to make before she made it. This wasn't just skill, it was something else. She hadn’t landed a single shot, but  _ Vermillion _ had landed plenty. This was bad.

Blake was sent tumbling across the ground by a punch from Vermillion. Her plan had been to fake him out with a copy, but he saw it coming. As she regained her footing, she shifted Gambol Shadow to its pistol form and fired a few shots.

Vermillion sheathed one of his blades, then blocked the bullets like it took no effort at all with his other one. Using the hand that was now free, he reached to his side and pulled out a pistol of his own. He fired two shots in quick succession, one of which Blake was able to block with her sheath, but the other struck her aura.

She decided to throw her weapon, but Vermillion sidestepped it and grabbed the ribbon at the same time that she did. He pulled, forcing Blake towards him and leaving her defenseless as he slashed at her aura, cutting the rest of it away. Then he followed it up with a kick that sent her sprawling onto the ground a few feet away.

“Don’t you just love fighting? It’s such a thrill, especially when you’re the one winning,” Vermillion said with a smug grin on his face.

“Is that all you’re doing this for? The  _ thrill  _ of it?!” Blake said, panting heavily as she tried to get up.

“It’s definitely a bonus, but no.” Then Vermillion’s expression changed to one of absolute seriousness. “Look around at the world, Blake. Mistral is completely divided between the rich, artistic people and the poor who make their aristocratic lives possible. Atlas is practically governed by the large corporations like the Schnee Dust Company that call it their home. The workers don’t get a voice. Vacuo is in a constant state of near-anarchy. And faunus, despite everything  _ you _ have done, are still not treated correctly. There is still prejudice against them, and as long as that prejudice exists, so will the White Fang, or Division Three.” Vermillion holstered his weapons. “I want to make Remnant a better, safer, more prosperous place. But I need to make a statement first.”

He tossed Gambol Shadow back at Blake’s feet and re-drew his own swords.

“I’d like to see you try to stop me, though,” he said.

___

 

Never in Yang’s life had she been bested by a single punch. Usually her aura was strong enough to take several hits. But as the standoff between her and Kopec continued, her stamina slowly drained away.

Eventually she failed to block a strike, and that was it. Kopec’s massive, plated fist hit her and her aura dissipated instantly on the punch. She went flying through the air, slammed into a tree, and her head made a painful 'crack’ noise as it made contact with the wood. A small trail of blood stained the wood as her unconscious body slid down to the ground.

“Yang!” Ruby called out. Then she turned back to her opponent and struck him as hard as she could with her scythe. Octavian tumbled into the side of the bullhead, and his aura crackled away.

Ruby knew that she probably couldn’t pierce Kopec’s armor, but she knew that a gigantic knight probably could. So she went speeding towards Weiss.

 

Weiss was startled when the man she was fighting was suddenly engulfed by a spinning, red blur and thrown further away from her.

“Weiss!” Ruby announced as she moved to start attacking Forest. “We could use a little chivalry right now!”

Weiss glanced at Yang, unconscious on the forest floor with the giant looming over her, and nodded. She stabbed her sword into the ground as Ruby gave her cover. A glyph appeared on the ground behind Kopec. A gargantuan hand emerged from it and grabbed the armored man, slamming him into the ground.

Then the rest of the body emerged, along with its trademark sword. Kopec managed to pry himself out of the hand’s grasp, but that just left him open for the massive blade to strike him, knocking him away.

Weiss then commanded her knight to turn toward the dust cannon. It swung its blade and cleaved the device in two, red powder spilling from the pieces. Some of the dust was ignited, and the top of the broken weapon was engulfed in flame.

When Ruby saw this, she dashed away from Forest and started shooting at him from a distance. His shield took all of the shots, but all she needed was space.

“Ace!” she yelled toward the bullhead. “Get out of here! We’ll call you when we need you!”

“Roger that,” their pilot said as the engines revved up.

As the bullhead took off, Ruby turned to Weiss. “Blake’s going to need some help.”

Weiss looked around. Yang was unconscious, but so was Octavian. Kopec had pulled himself back to his feet, and Forest stood at the ready.

“I’m not going to leave you here to fight two-on-one!” she protested.

“This guy beat Yin and Moon at the same time. Moon was one of the best huntresses in Beacon, and Yin wasn’t too far behind. Weiss… I think Blake’s going up against something far worse.”

Weiss hesitated, then slowly nodded. She made her knight slash at Forest, who jumped out of the way, and ran towards the camp. Forest moved to follow her.

“Let her go,” Kopec said in an amused voice.

Forest frowned. “Kopec-”

“I’ve seen Vermillion handle some crazy stuff in the time that I’ve known him. Another huntress won’t stop him,” Kopec laughed a little. “Besides, Violet’s still there.”

Forest turned to Ruby. “I guess that just leaves you then,” he said.

Ruby positioned herself defensively in front of Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I don't have too much to say.
> 
> Just have a good day and all that!


	6. Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

It was all a blur of motion. Ruby dodged punch and spiked ball alike, twirling around with her scythe and landing a few hits on her enemies, if only glancing ones.

She used her semblance to propel herself into the air and started raining down bullets and dust on Kopec and Forest. But then she took a hit from her right that left her aura fizzling. Looking for the source of the attack, Ruby found it to be a chameleon faunus with a sniper rifle. Octavian was back on his feet.

She landed on the ground, and had to immediately re-engage her semblance to avoid the bullets coming towards her. Then a spiked ball hit her right in the gut, making her stumble backwards. Her aura didn’t fall, but she was definitely feeling fatigue and pain.

“I really thought that one of the ‘saviors of the world’ would be a more difficult fight,” Forest smirked, but then promptly brought his face back to a more neutral expression.

Ruby just growled, before dropping the current magazine out of her scythe and loading it with gravity dust. She cocked Crescent Rose and pointed it behind herself. Then she fired, propelling herself towards her enemies.

Her blade sparked continuously across the metal surfaces of both Forest’s shield and Kopec’s armor. They were protecting Octavian, so she couldn’t get a good hit on him. But she came by, pass after pass, raking her scythe’s white, sharp edge across their defenses.

Then, on one pass, Kopec grabbed the shaft of Crescent Rose and lifted. Ruby was swung over his head and he slammed her down into the ground. He lifted the weapon up and slammed her once again into the earth, this time dislodging her grasp and dissipating her aura. She rolled along the dirt as Kopec tossed her beautiful weapon away.

Ruby quickly got back to her feet and raised her fists. She still wasn’t great at hand-to-hand, but at the moment she didn’t really have another option.

She ducked out of the way of a sniper shot from Octavian, who then switched his weapon to its axe form.

_ Come on, just gotta wait for an opening… _

Kopec came charging towards her.

_ Now! _

Ruby rolled under the giant’s wild swing and used his back as a springboard to leap over a slash from Octavian’s axe. Forest’s spike ball swooped at her, but she now had the room to use her semblance and promptly avoided it. Her cloak scattered petals as she barreled towards her discarded scythe, plucking it off the ground as she went past. She stopped in front of Yang’s unconscious body and twirled the weapon around in a flourish.

“Still got some spark left in ya’?” Kopec said loudly. “I like it! Fight to the end!”

Ruby cocked Crescent’s gun as the armored man barreled towards her.

___

 

Weiss got to the edge of the camp and could barely see the ongoing fight from behind the crowd of Vermillion’s followers. But from what she  _ did  _ see, she could tell that Blake was losing. Badly.

As Weiss made to push through the crowd, something struck her in the side of the head. She staggered backwards and saw what did it. A large mace. The person carrying the mace was a woman with short purple hair and a red trenchcoat.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Violet!”

“I don’t care,” Weiss said through gritted teeth, rotating the dust chamber in Myrtenaster. “What is with you people and introducing yourselves to your enemies?”

The purple-haired woman, Violet, looked to the empty area to her right. “No, I’m sure she didn’t mean that,” she said to seemingly no one. Then she turned back to Weiss. “Sorry, but Vermillion is a little preoccupied right now. Can I give him a message?”

Weiss launched herself at the woman with a glyph and hit her with a fire-infused strike before she could react. “Try to put that into words.”

___

 

Blake was exhausted. She still wasn’t able to get a hit in, and Vermillion was drawing the battle out. He wasn't going for wounding blows, and whenever he knocked her down, he would wait for her to get stable footing before attacking again. It was infuriating.

Eventually it got to the point where she fell to the dirt and couldn’t get back up. Vermillion stood over her.

“This isn’t going how you planned it to, is it?” he said with a raised, cocky eyebrow.

“Getting beaten by a tyrant with an unstoppable will to conquer?” Blake said, weakly trying to match his expression. “No, it’s pretty much how any huntress would expect to go out.”

Vermillion grabbed her by the coat and forcibly pulled her to her feet. He then stepped back and drew his swords again. “I’m not killing you yet. I’m still having fun.”

“And what if I just stop?” Blake asked, angrily lowering her blade. Her muscles burned and blackness was creeping into the corners of her vision.

“Well, every moment you entertain me is a moment longer for your teammates to try and 'save the day’.” He then looked to his right. “Oh, it seems like it’s already starting to work out for you!”

Blake followed his gaze and saw Weiss in a heated fight with a woman with purple hair. But she was here. When Blake looked to Vermillion again, she saw him swinging his blade at her and just barely brought hers up to stop it. Vermillion continued putting pressure on the blade.

“Keep fighting,” he said. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll  _ save _ you?”

He seemed to allow Blake to push him away. She tried to ignore her body screaming from overexertion, and ran towards him. He parried her lethargic strike easily and kicked her into the crowd of his followers.

Blake emerged back from the crowd and leapt towards her enemy. He knocked her to the ground with no effort at all.

“Okay, maybe I  _ am _ getting a little bored of this,” he said.

___

 

As soon as Weiss got a really good hit off on Violet, she turned to the fight happening in the camp. The crowd had parted slightly, so she now had a clear view. She saw Blake on her back, the man she assumed to be Vermillion standing above her with swords drawn. Blake’s head turned to Weiss, and blue eyes met gold for a moment.

Then Vermillion plunged his sword into Blake’s heart.

Her body quivered for a moment, then stopped moving altogether. Her aura flared up for a brief instant, and then her body dissolved into black dust. Just like Ruby’s description of Pyrrha.

“NO! BLAKE!” Weiss screamed out. But she was already gone.

Anger burned in her eyes as she propelled herself towards Vermillion. Her sword was parried quite easily with one blade and the handle of the other blade hit her in the face. She dropped to the ground, but quickly scrambled to her feet.

“I don’t have to kill anyone else today,” Vermillion said. “But I don’t mind the extra exercise.”

Weiss spun Myrtenaster’s chamber with a look of rage in her eyes.

___

 

Three-on-one was only going to last for so long. Eventually, a very bruised Ruby was knocked onto her butt next to Yang. But to her relief, the blonde huntress was starting to come to.

“Oh thank God, Yang. I could really use your help right now,” Ruby said.

Yang rubbed the aching area on the back of her head, but slowly got to her feet. “Alright, who’s first?” she dizzily taunted the three enemies.

Then a bullhead flew low to the ground above them.

“Is that Ace?” Yang asked.

Ruby didn’t get a chance to answer before Weiss’s unconscious body was dumped out of the cargo doors. A grinning man wearing red then backed away from the doors as the bullhead started moving further away from the huntresses.

“Weiss…?” Ruby shook her white-haired friend, to no avail.

“Where’s Blake?” Yang asked, desperation creeping into her voice.

Ruby looked up at the retreating airship, ignoring the three men who they were previously fighting, and who had now ceased attacking entirely. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” she said, before rushing through the air with her semblance.

___

 

“Sir, she’s coming at us with her semblance. She’s too fast to hit!” said one of Vermillion’s men.

“That’s because you aren’t thinking of a more… creative solution,” Vermillion said, taking a red dust crystal out of his pocket.

He threw it into the air at Ruby, then pulled out his sidearm and shot it as soon as the crystal was near the crimson blur. It exploded with fire, slightly burning Ruby and ruining all of her momentum. She fell to the ground.

___

 

A sickening crunch and a cry of pure agony accompanied Ruby’s landing. Her right leg was twisted in a way that it shouldn’t have been able to move. Yang rushed to her side and tried to simultaneously tend to her sister and Weiss.

“Well, it seems we’re done here,” Kopec’s booming voice said over Ruby’s wimpers of pain. “We wouldn’t want you three to miss the show.”

Yang looked at the three enemies with burning red eyes, but only caught a glimpse of them before Forest tossed a black disk in their direction.

There was a flash of blue, and then they were on a crowded sidewalk in downtown Vale, with a bunch of people giving them weird looks as they had just materialized from thin air.

“Wh-what?” Yang looked around, very confused. The look on her face was almost the same as those of the civilians around her. Then she looked back down at her crippled sister. “Someone, call an ambulance! She needs medical help!”

A few of the people took out their scrolls.

But then every single person’s scroll started ringing.

After a few rings, a voice came in sync out of every device.

“I hope I’ve gotten your attention,” the man’s voice said. He then cleared his throat. “My name is Vermillion Ozark. I am the great, great grandson of the King of Vale. In the Great War, he had the potential to bring the entire world under a singular rule. He could have stopped many of the horrid atrocities that occurred after that. The immorality of the Schnee Dust Company. The conflict between faunus and humans. And my personal favorite, the war against Salem. And yet, my ancestor forsook his right to rule over this world, despite all the good his reign would have done. It is my intention to take the throne in his place.”

The people hearing this started looking at their scrolls in disbelief.

“Do not mistake my intentions. I am not doing this for mere power or self-gain. I wish to make this world into a better place. A place of order and safety.” The voice then paused. “But, if you still doubt me, and if you believe that your oh-so-loved huntsmen and huntresses are going to liberate you from my rule… well then, I have something to show you.”

A video appeared on every screen Ruby and Yang could see, whether it be the scrolls that the pedestrians were holding out, or the giant advertisement screen on the building in front of them. They watched the latter.

The video showed a segment of the fight between Blake and Vermillion. Blake was trying her hardest, but wasn’t able to get a single hit in, and seemed extremely tired, while Vermillion wasn’t winded in the slightest. And then it happened. Blake was knocked onto her back, and the man plunged his katana deep into her chest. Yang had to watch her wife die.

“No… no…” Yang’s eyes filled with tears as gasps filled the streets and the video began looping again.

“Yang…” Ruby said weakly, trying to reach out to her.

“NO, NO, NO!!!!!” Yang screamed out before blasting out of the city with Ember Celica.

“Yang! Come back!” Ruby tried to shout, but she instantly felt light-headed from pain after doing so.

As the video continued to loop, the voice returned.

“The people of this world need to understand that huntsmen are not the key to our happiness  _ or  _ our safety. People use huntsman training for ill every day. For murder, robbery, or unnecessary brutality. That is why my first task as ruler will be to eradicate huntsmen from common society.” The video paused for a moment. “My first target is Beacon Academy. Be ready for it, lest you end up like Mrs. Xiao Long here.” Then the video continued it's loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, my writing hand slipped.


	7. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four months later...

Another Beowulf was cleaved in half by Ruby’s scythe. Its two pieces fell into a puddle being formed by the heavy rain. Right beside her, an Ursa was killed by a shotgun blast.

“Things are bad enough as is,” Moon complained over the sound of the downpour while reloading her double-sided scythe. “I wish that we didn’t still have to deal with the Grimm on top of it.”

It was four months after that fateful day. The day that Vermillion revealed that he had killed Blake, and then took the world by storm. The rest of that day, the video repeated over and over. Once it eventually stopped, Ruby had already managed to get someone to drive her and Weiss to the hospital. Some fan of theirs, apparently. Being world-famous occasionally had its perks. Ruby tried calling Yang then, but the first few attempts were rejected. Then the next few were not picked up at all. Neither were the messages she sent. It seemed that Yang simply wanted to disappear off of the face of Remnant.

As soon as she was able to walk the slightest amount, Ruby made her way to Beacon with Weiss. They came a little too late, however. As soon as they’d arrived at Beacon, they saw the chaos that was ensuing. The CCT was the first building to be attacked, overseen by Vermillion himself. There were doubts about how powerful he was, but those doubts were squashed when Vermillion left the building dragging Oscarpin’s unconscious body. Ruby and Weiss rushed to help the main buildings, as the CCT was already lost. It hurt Ruby an incredible amount, but she pressed forward.

There were so many people who they weren’t able to help. There was not a single casualty on either side, but countless huntsmen and huntresses in training were captured, along with almost every teacher. All Weiss and Ruby were able to do was evacuate a few students and a wounded Doctor Oobleck, who, to his credit, tried his hardest to stay and fight until the two huntresses forced him to leave. Then, as they began reentering the buildings, they happened upon Forest. That… did not go well.

They retreated, Ruby with a re-broken leg and Weiss with no aura left. And that was when they decided to lay low in Patch for a while.

Moon had been in a daze for the entire time after Yin’s arm got cut off. It had been traumatic to her, and she had barely been functioning when Nina got there. But when the announcement was made, it seemed to be the kick in the butt that Moon needed. After a couple of days, she told her girlfriend that she needed to see Yin. She felt like she needed to be the one to relay the bad news.

They entered her hospital room, but there was already someone there, looming over Yin’s unconscious figure. A woman, with purple hair and a red trenchcoat. She revealed herself to be working with Vermillion, and revealed that she was there to capture them. As she talked, more of Vermillion’s forces surrounded them.

It quickly became a fight, with Nina and Moon against terrible odds. But, with a well-placed use of Moon’s semblance, they were able to grab Yin and escape the hospital.

Once they made it back to the house, Nina and Moon knew that they couldn’t stay there long. So they got packed as quickly as they could, grabbed their weapons (as well as Yin’s) and frantically made any other preparations that they deemed necessary. These preparations suddenly ceased when they started smelling smoke.

They were barely able to drag Yin out of the house before it was completely ablaze. Their childhood home, every memento of when they were kids, gone. But Moon wasn’t able to mourn her home for long, as Violet and Vermillion’s lackies showed up for a real battle.

When the fight started to go bad, Weiss, Ruby, and the hunters in training from Beacon arrived, forcing the purple-haired psycho to retreat. But it was clear that Patch wasn’t going to be a safe place to lay low, so together they searched for a new place.

Soon after their battle at Patch, Weiss declared that she had to leave for Atlas. They all knew that the SDC would be one of Vermillion’s targets, and all understood that Weiss felt the need to protect her employees, not to mention the family that she still had over there. So they finally made that call to Ace, and he flew her there himself. And not a moment too soon, actually, as there was an attack on the Schnee company headquarters the next day. They all heard about this from the news that Vermillion allowed to circulate. They would have tried to contact Weiss, but Vermillion had shut down all communications outside of the kingdoms with the taking of the CCT. She was on her own.

And so was Yang, if she was even alive anymore. Ruby had given up on calling her after the first month, when she found Yang’s scroll in the middle of the woods near Vale. It seemed that she had discarded it. Ruby just wanted to know if her sister was okay, but it seemed that she wasn’t even going to get that solace.

Moon snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. “Behind you!”

Ruby turned and saw the Beowulf lunging at her, but before she could even react to it its entire body was frozen solid. A hammer shattered it into pieces.

“Daydreaming again?” Nina commented. Moon’s girlfriend was human, roughly her height, and wore mainly white and blue. Her dress code was almost Schnee-like. She had short to medium-length blue hair, which was currently soaked by the rain. Her weapon was similar in size and shape to Magnhild, but did not transform and instead used an ice dust crystal to freeze her enemies from a distance before smashing them to pieces.

“Sorry, Nina,” Ruby said to the younger huntress. “I just started thinking about Yang. You know how that goes…”

“Well, you can stop thinking about her. She’s not coming back,” Moon said angrily as she pried one of her scythe blades out of the jaw of a Beowulf.

“Moon, come on. She’s your mom, she’ll come back,” Nina said.

“Everyone’s been saying that for the last four months,” Moon said, scanning the woods to make sure no other Grimm were coming. It was dark already, but with the downpour it was almost impossible to see. “Look, I don’t think any others are coming. Let’s just go back to the stronghold.”

Moon turned to walk back, but Ruby limped over and stopped her. After Vermillion’s takeover it became too risky to get the help of a normal doctor, so Ruby let her leg heal on its own. Unfortunately, it didn’t heal correctly, and it left her partially crippled.

Ruby pulled Moon into an embrace, rubbing circles into her back and letting the faunus rest her chin on her aunt’s shoulder. She sometimes had to do this when Moon got upset, usually about her family.

“I know. I know I need to let this go,” Moon said from over Ruby’s shoulder. “I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I just can’t. Yin lost her arm and we  _ all  _ lost Mom. We needed our other mom more than ever, and she just…  _ left  _ us. I’m finding it hard to forgive that.”

“Sweetie, I don’t know why she left either, and I’m kind of mad at her for it too, but we can’t give up hope that she’ll come back.” Ruby pulled away from the hug just enough to look Moon in her eyes, her  _ mother’s _ purple eyes. “We can’t let our sorrows destroy us.”

Nina sauntered over and kissed Moon on the cheek. “Yeah, because even if they don’t, the Grimm will. Sometimes we’ve just gotta suck it up a little.” She brushed some of the soaked black locks of hair from Moon’s eyes.

Ruby let go of the hug and held out her hand to catch some of the rain. Her palm was filled almost instantly. “Alright, we should get back to some shelter. We’re gonna get hypothermia out here.”

“Amen to that,” Nina said, smiling and kissing the tip of Moon’s nose.

“Yeah, sorry for being such a downer, guys,” Moon said.

“Don’t be,” Ruby said, giving her hand a squeeze. “This… all of this is overwhelming. I’ve lost all of my teammates in one way or another. You lost your mothers and your home. Nina… Nina I don’t know what you lost, but you’re here now. We all need to help each other through this.”

Moon nodded silently as they started to go back to the stronghold.

___

 

“We’re back!” Ruby announced as she limped into the camp.

“Guys!” Nora yelled before tackle-hugging Moon and Ruby at the same time. “You said that you would be out for ten minutes! It’s been an hour!”

“Sorry about that,” Nina said. “Big Grimm pack.”

As Nora shifted to hug the blue-haired huntress, Ren emerged. “We’re just happy that you are safe,” he said.

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual,” Moon said, maneuvering herself below a rain fly to get out of the downpour. “But as far as perimeter checks go, not a boring one!”

“I think it’s better that the checks  _ are  _ boring,” Ren said.

“Yeah, you know what happened the last few times we took a stronghold,” Nora said.

Ruby frowned. When Vermillion’s reign had begun, he placed strongholds in many places in Remnant. There were three in Vale, one in Mistral, and one in Atlas. The one they currently were occupying was actually the very same camp that Blake had been killed at, just reinforced. It brought back bad memories, to say the least.

But Nora was right. Every time any of them had taken a stronghold, it ended in near-disaster. They would fight tooth-and-nail to get it in the first place, but then Vermillion would arrive, and drive them back out again. Sometimes he would capture some of them, (the last to be captured was Yatsuhashi) but he would always release them after a few days. Vermillion wasn’t threatened at all by their presence, and just wanted 'the thrill of the fight.’

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Ruby said.

Ren began, “Was there a sign of-”

“No, no sign of Velvet and…” Ruby glanced at a shivering Moon, “no sign of Yang either.”

Nora’s face became one of pity. “Sorry guys, I know you were really hoping-”

“I just want to find Velvet for Coco,” Moon interrupted. “Mom will show up if she wants to.”

There was a tentative pause after that, which was eventually broken by Nina, saying, “We had a rough day.”

Ren nodded, and Nora chimed in, “Well, I don’t think there’s a better cure for a rough day than hot chocolate!” She went into the main tent and came out with three mugs full of the piping-hot brown liquid.

“Nora, have I ever mentioned that you are awesome?” Moon smiled.

“Maybe a few times,” Nora said dismissively. “Now come on over here. I’m not going into the rain with these.”

The three huntresses bolted into the cover of the large tent, Ren following slowly behind.

And as Ruby went to close the front flap of the tent, she could have sworn that she saw a flash of yellow in the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the story _really_ gets under way.
> 
> I think this story is gonna end up being a bit longer than the last two, because there are more and longer chapters. Hopefully I can keep all of your interest to read to the end!
> 
> Have a good Sunday, sorry tomorrow's Monday.


	8. Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang alone.

Yang needed to kill that Vermillion guy. She couldn’t let anything distract her, just let the rage build so that she could unleash it all on his smug little face.

She was living on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, as she felt too wretched for society any more. She didn’t deserve love, friendship, family. She didn’t deserve safety. She had failed the person she loved most.

Blake was dead. Blake was dead, and Yang had done NOTHING to stop it. She had been useless, she was knocked out almost immediately and didn’t help Weiss, her sister… if she had fought harder, they could’ve made it past those losers and stopped Vermillion from killing her. It should have been easy, but Yang ruined it. It was all Yang’s fault. It was all Yang’s fault. It was all Yang’s fault.

Yang beat her forehead with her palm as the memory of the video came back to the forefront of her mind. Vermillion embedding his blade into her wife’s chest, watching her writhe for a moment, and then every semblance of life leaving her body. Then she died, just like Pyrrha did. Ozpin- or, Oscar- once told Yang that that was how huntsmen with the strongest auras died. The energy flared up, then consumed the lifeless body and turned it to dust. The thought of it happening to Blake made Yang want to be sick. She already  _ had _ been many, many times after the day she learned her wife was dead.

She passed by the place that it had happened, that accursed dirt arena that had taken so much from her. She glanced at it only briefly and she felt dizzy. She had to get as far away from there as possible. She couldn’t face that moment again.

There were a lot of things she couldn’t face. She couldn’t face her teammates after failing them so terribly. She couldn’t face any of her other friends, because she was not worth their time. She couldn’t face… oh God, she couldn’t face her daughters. What would they say to their mother who couldn’t save their other mother and who  _ ran away _ when things got tough? God, she was so much like Raven it made her sick.

She ran into the forest, pausing after making it a mile or so. She was tired and starving. She hadn’t found anything to eat for two days now. Just fate’s way of laughing at her, she supposed. Maybe she deserved it.

She shook her head. No, she couldn’t think like that. If she stopped eating then she would stop moving, and if she stopped moving then she would never get the chance to kill Vermillion. Once she killed him, everything would be better.

No, she knew she was lying to herself there. Blake would still be dead. She would still have run away. And, she hoped, everyone else would still hate her for being a failure as a huntress and as a friend.

But killing him was the one thing that she could look forward to. She was a mess and she knew it. Hell, the _creatures of_ _Grimm_ knew it. Everywhere she went ended up becoming a swarm of Grimm, not that she couldn’t handle it. She could handle wave upon wave of bloodthirsty creatures, but was completely incapable of stopping _one guy’s_ fist.

So she hunted, looking for signs around Vale for anything that Vermillion built, because she wanted to tear it down. She wanted him to  **_suffer._ **

She had gone back to the place of Blake’s death once, right after she had run away from Vale. Yang looked for something to remember her wife by, but there was nothing. No ribbon, no weapon, even the blood seemed to have been cleaned up. The love felt like it had been violently torn from her heart. And it was never coming back.

Suddenly, Yang’s mind snapped back to the present as she heard growling coming from the forest. Yeah, that would take her mind off things. She needed to blow off steam on a couple of Grimm.

But as the growling noise came closer, it became increasingly obvious that it wasn’t Grimm. A large off-road truck with a dust cannon on its back drove past a few meters away, seeming not to have seen her. It had Vermillion’s crest on it: two katanas crossed over a green crown. The truck was followed by many soldiers.

_ Even better,  _ Yang thought. She propelled herself at the truck.

___

 

“You heard that, right?” Moon said to the others.

“Yeah, I heard it babe,” Nina said. “I think the sound of explosions is a good indication that we need to get ready to defend this place.”

Nora’s hammer unfolded in her hands. “Me and Ren will take the North.”

Ruby nodded. “Alright. Moon and Nina, take the West. I’ll take the East.”

“Not with  _ that leg _ , you aren’t,” Moon protested. “I’ll take the East with you. Nina, are you okay taking the West on your own?”

“Come on Moon, I’m  _ me _ ,” Nina said with a grin.

“Alright, sounds like a plan,” Moon said, opening the tent flap. It had stopped raining. “Let’s go.”

___

 

They waited for a couple of hours, and nothing happened. The explosions had eventually ceased, and it was just quiet. It was pissing Moon off.

“Alright, we should go check it out,” Moon said.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” Ruby said. “This seems kinda trap-like.”

“Or it could be... not a trap,” Moon said. “Come on, I’d rather know what we’re up against.”

“Alright, but I’m dashing us back here if things get bad,” Ruby said.

“Can you even do that with your leg?” Moon gestured to Ruby’s legs, her body weight leaning heavily on her left.

Ruby just shrugged. “I’ve been practicing.”

“Alright,” Moon said. They started walking into the woods.

After a little time of silence, Ruby spoke. “Moon, I’m a little worried about you.”

“Why?” Moon asked.

“You just… you seem to be getting angry about things a lot easier. I just want you to be able to be happy.”

Moon thought for a moment. “I guess we all have our ways of dealing with… this. Vermillion, Mom, the takeover… it just makes me mad.”

“Believe me, it runs in your family,” Ruby said with a slight smirk.

Moon frowned. “I think running away does, too.”

It was Ruby’s turn to frown. “Moon, you’re not being very fair to your mom.”

Moon shook her head and looked at her feet. “If Nina was killed, I would be devastated. There’s no doubt about that. But I wouldn’t run away from my problems _or_ go on a one-woman rampage. There are too many people who care about me for me to throw my life away like that.” Then she looked Ruby in the eye. “And I _know_ that I don’t want the people that I care about throwing their lives away for me.”

“Moon, you don’t get to decide that for us,” Ruby said, maintaining the eye contact. “If you were in trouble, I would come for you. Even if it were a certain-death scenario.”

Moon stopped walking. “Please don’t say that. If you died, I don’t know what I’d do.”

Ruby walked up to her niece and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Moon, I’m just a huntress doing her job.”

“No you’re not,” Moon said, pulling Ruby into a hug. “You’re like a third mom to me. You always have been, even when you weren’t there much.” Ruby could feel Moon’s breathing start to get shaky. “Please… I can’t lose you too.”

Ruby petted Moon’s head. “Easy, easy,” she said as she heard Moon starting to cry. They stood like that for a while until Moon’s breathing steadied. Ruby pulled away from the embrace and looked at Moon. “I promise I’m not going anywhere.”

Moon gave a teary-eyed nod. Then they continued walking.

“Whoa…” Moon said as they approached what was obviously the commotion from earlier. There was a truck that was absolutely torn apart and burning, and several corpses that were in the same kind of state. Ruby walked over to the side of the truck and saw the crest.

“These were Vermillion’s men… what… who did this?”

“I’ll give you three guesses who,” Moon said, leaning against a tree with a disgruntled expression.

Ruby paused. “You think this was Yang?”

“There isn’t a doubt in my mind,” Moon said, picking up one of Ember Celica's shotgun shells out of the slick mud. “It seems like she went the 'one-woman rampage’ path.”

Ruby looked at the dismembered and demolished corpses. “Moon, I don’t think your mother is... okay.”

Moon shook her head. “I don’t think so either. I know that she’s destructive in battle, but this-” she gestured to the various body parts scattered in the mud. “this was deliberate overkill.”

Ruby took a deep breath, which was hard because the entire area smelled like burning flesh. “We need to find her.”

“Alright,” Moon said. “But I’m going to have a serious conversation with her about her abandoning us when she comes back.”

Ruby nodded. “I think you’re owed that.”

“We should tell the others it was a false alarm,” Moon said, pocketing the shotgun shell.

“Alright, want me to bring us with my semblance?” Ruby said excitedly.

“I’m going to break your other leg so that you stop trying,” Moon said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s  _ walk _ back.”

Ruby huffed. “Fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Yang isn't okay.
> 
> I'm sure I've probably lost the interest of most of you guys, but I've already written this story, so I'll soldier on.
> 
> For those of you still reading, I hope you have a great day!


	9. Intermission (Not an actual chapter)

I have noticed a lot of dissatisfaction with this story. People are clearly not as happy with this story as they were with the last two. Look, I can take a hint. The suggestions I've gotten to make this story better are inherently about the plot as a whole, and it's too late to change that now.  
So, since people aren't enjoying this, I'm going to make a call. Unless if I get a lot of support to bring this back, I think it's best that I stop posting this story, and cancel the Among the Rifts series. I'm sorry that this didn't turn out to be what you guys were hoping for.  
Regardless, I still hope that you all have a very nice day. Goodbye.

Edit: You may have noticed that the story is not over. Yay! Details at the beginning of next chapter.


	10. Retaliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stronghold is attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here's what I'm gonna do.
> 
> I will continue posting, taking into consideration all of your input and changing what I can on the way. Then, if people are still dissatisfied at the end, I will start working on a remake. Good? Good.
> 
> I think that the next story, the one I'm currently working on, will entertain you all greatly, especially those of you who have criticized this one. So I have to make it through this one to get there.
> 
> So, enjoy the continuation of The Kingdom, in a three chapter burst because of the time I missed!

The explosions may not have been a threat, but it most certainly was not a false alarm.

Ruby and Moon arrived at the camp, and were promptly greeted with the sight of Nora being knocked across the ground. Then their good-old enemy Violet walked out behind her.

“Oh hey, Rubes!” she called.

“Don’t ever call me that again,” Ruby said as she prepped Crescent Rose.

“Aww, don’t be rude!” Violet said. “I’m only trying to kill you!”

Nora was back on her feet, and said, “Yeah, we’re not huge fans of that.”

Violet looked above her head. “Yeah, I don’t like her either,” she said, seemingly to no one.

Ren came tumbling past her. A very,  _ very  _ familiar male voice came from behind a tent in the direction he was knocked from. “Violet, play nice.”

Violet pouted. “But when I’m around her the voices get louder!”

Then he stepped out from behind the tent. The red clothes, brown hair, and green eyes unmistakable. “We’re already humiliating them, no need to insult them.”

Ruby’s stomach dropped. She had fought Vermillion thrice, and thrice she had been defeated by him. He always seemed to have the upper hand,zero and she didn't know how. But this time, Moon was here, and she would be crushed if Moon were hurt in any way.

“Guys?” Nina called out as she jogged to them. “What’s going o- oh…” She stopped when she had seen Vermillion. “Hi,” she said to him in the most hostile tone she could muster.

“Hello,” the tyrant said with a grin. “We came here because Kopec wanted his stronghold back.”

“Fuck you,” was the most clever thing that Moon could think of to say.

Vermillion’s attention was drawn to her. “Moon Belladonna. I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing you since… well, you know when.”

A shiver went down Moon’s spine as the memory of Yin’s arm being removed came back to her.

“I gave you an option to run last time, and you shouldn’t feel any shame for having retreated. You made the smart choice,” Vermillion said.

“I’m not running this time,” Moon said. She tried to step towards the man, but Ruby held her back.

“Either you’ll be running or your allies will be carrying you back. Those are really your options,” Vermillion said.

Ruby then looked past him. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing to the woman behind him. She was wearing mostly black clothing, had medium-length, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was holding a submachine gun.

“Oh, that’s Gold. She’s one of my newer high-ranking officers,” Vermillion said. “Also mute, I’m afraid.”

That Vermillion had a new recruit wasn’t entirely surprising. After his takeover, many people seeking power or favor joined his side. First it was Merlot, then it was some less-than-loyal Division Three members, and then some corrupt soldiers from Atlas’ military. Eventually his reign of terror had the support of all of the worst people of the world. Gold was likely one of them.

“She’s just here to watch a demonstration on what to do when a stronghold gets taken,” Vermillion said. He then looked back at Gold. “Be sure to take notes.”

Gold gave a thumbs-up.

“We aren’t going to make it easy for you,” Ren said, moving to a fighting stance again.

“I hope not,” Violet said. “He gets a little cranky when he’s bored.”

“What can I say? I like to be entertained,” Vermillion said. “I think this will be interesting.”

___

 

The result was the same as it always was. Vermillion started on the defensive and let his enemies wear themselves out before he started striking. Violet took a some hits, but dished out just as many. Gold wasn’t involved in the fight, but watched intently as all of her enemies were being beaten.

It really started to go bad when more of Vermillion’s men showed up and shot at the huntsmen while they were distracted. It became a very unfair fight. Towards the end, Ruby, Ren, and Nora were all knocked out and all but forgotten by the villains. That left Nina and Moon. Vermillion raised a hand to signal for the soldiers to stop attacking.

“Nina, I’m making a flash,” Moon said. Nina nodded and covered her eyes. Everything that used to be black on Moon’s body started glowing white. Her vision was completely white for a split second, and then it promptly returned. To her dismay, though, the sight she came back to was that of Vermillion and Violet uncovering their eyes.

“What, do you think we’re idiots?” Violet smirked, her vision having not been affected. Then she looked straight up in the air and said, “I didn’t ask  _ you _ !”

 Vermillion drew his sidearm and promptly shot Nina in the face, surprising her and dispelling the rest of her aura, knocking her out. “And then there was one.”

“Nina! Ruby!” Panic grabbed at Moon’s chest. She knew she couldn’t face Vermillion alone. No one could. Not even Ruby could, even if her leg  _ wasn’t _ hurt. But… she had to try, right? She had to…

In a split-second decision, Moon took the rift device that she had found in the stronghold out of her pocket and activated it, teleporting her, Ruby, Nina, Nora, and Ren out of there and onto the top of the broken mountain bordering Vale.

Moon had had no idea where that device would have led. She was glad that it wasn’t directly into a trap.

As the rift began to close, she heard Vermillion’s voice call, “It looks like you made the smart choice again.” Then the hole in space sealed itself.

Moon collapsed onto her knees and started quietly sobbing. She jumped when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she turned towards it, she saw her red-cloaked aunt, obviously exhausted and in pain but trying to hide it.

“Hey, shh shh shhhh, what’s wrong?” Ruby said as she pulled her niece into a slow, pained hug.

“God damnit, what kind of a huntress am I?!” Moon yelled at herself. “I did it again! I chickened out and ran from him!”

“Shhhh, shhh,” Ruby kept saying as she petted between Moon’s ears. They stayed like this until Moon’s crying stopped.

“What kind of a huntress am I?” Moon repeated, shifting her head to indicate that she didn’t want to be petted anymore.

“You’re the kind that kept us all alive,” Ruby said, complying with the black-haired faunus’s unspoken request. “We could’ve died, and you saved us.”

“He wasn’t going to kill any of us and you know it,” Moon argued in a quiet voice. “He always leaves you all alive. I had no excuse. I just ran.”

“You already have enough enemies,” Nora said, having woken up and slowly sitting on Moon’s other side. “You don’t need to beat  _ yourself _ up, too.”

“But-”

“Hey, no one is going to blame you for the decision you made,” Ruby said. “Challenging Vermillion on your own is… stupid. I’m glad you didn’t try.”

“It’s supposed to be my job to try,” Moon said.

“No it isn’t,” Nora said, giving Moon’s shoulder a squeeze. “Your job is to protect the people. And guess what?  _ We _ count as people! Your instincts told you to protect us, and we all appreciate that.” Nora shot Ruby a sunny smile, then turned back to Moon. “Please stop blaming yourself when nobody else does.”

Moon sighed. “I know deep down that you guys are probably right, but I’m just frustrated at myself.”

Ruby gave a half-hearted smirk. “Aren’t we all? This is kind of a frustrating situation.” She struggled to her feet and clutched her head as she limped to Nina’s unconscious body. “I don’t suppose you know how to change the coordinates on that thing?” She pointed with her other hand to the black disk in Moon’s hand.

“No… I don’t think it’s possible,” Moon returned.

Nora sighed. “I guess we’ll be walking, then…”

“Not for too long,” Ruby said. “We just need to find a flat spot so Ace can pick us up.”

Moon gave a weak smirk. “I bet he would say that he could land anywhere.”

“Yeah, but I’m not willing to deal with another ‘accident’,” Ruby said with a smile. “My leg may be better than it used to be, but rough landings aren’t great for it.”

Moon scooped up Nina’s body in her arms, and watched Nora pull Ren’s up onto her shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“Alright,” Moon said with a slight sigh. “Let’s head home.”


	11. Base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The defeated huntsmen head back to base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THESE THREE CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN UPLOADED TOGETHER. DO NOT MISS THE LAST CHAPTER.

The trip back was uneventful. The five found a clearing and called Ace. He arrived and took them to the temple in the Emerald Forest.

After Patch proved to be an unsafe place to hide, Weiss, Ruby, Yin, Moon, Nina, and Oobleck, along with a few Beacon students who had decided to stick around, racked their brains for what to do. Their current base of operations was actually Oobleck’s idea.

Ruby stepped up to a certain pillar of the temple where she had so long ago picked a relic and formed her team. She concentrated what little aura she had regenerated since the battle onto her hand and touched the cold stone. A mechanism inside of the pillar reacted to her aura and a stone tile moved slightly in the floor of the temple. Moon and Nora helped pull the stone the rest of the way. The machine was suffering from lack of maintenance, and couldn’t fully open itself anymore.

Under the tile was a staircase, which all six of them (including Ace) stepped into, sealing the entrance behind them. After a labyrinth of long tunnels which they had all memorized the path through, they stepped into their base of operations. Very tall pillars lined the long corridor, and all the surfaces were slightly green.

Even though the place didn’t exactly harbor the nicest of memories, (especially for Jaune,) it was hard to debate that the Vault of Beacon was the perfect hiding place.

It had several hidden entrances, some in the city and some outside, and all of them had mechanisms that were already rigged only to activate to the auras of Beacon Faculty. The elevator, too, though they would never even consider using it, as it led straight into the enemy-controlled CCT. And to top it all off, no one who didn’t work with the Brotherhood (other than Jaune) knew the place existed, so they were able to hide right under Vermillion’s nose.

Right after they had moved into the vault, ('they’ not including Weiss, as she left for Atlas soon after) the huntsman and huntresses called every other hunter that they knew, and told them where to go. Many of them had had a similar experience to Nina and Moon's, and were also driven out of their homes, so it wasn’t hard to convince them to come live in hiding. What resulted was an underground society of Huntsmen, all living in the Vault.

“Hey Ren, Nora, Ruby,” Jaune approached them. “If you’re here, I’ve got a pretty good guess as to what happened at the stronghold.”

“Vermillion, as per usual,” Ren commented.

“Right,” Jaune said, not seeming surprised at all. “How’s Moon? I know this was her first takeover.”

“At this point, just a little frustrated,” Moon said, eliciting a side hug from Nina.

“Hey!” they heard a female voice yell. Then Coco ran up and hugged Ruby. “Didn’t go well?” she asked.

“Not really,” Ruby responded. Coco had been a really good friend to Ruby since Blake’s death. She had already lost a teammate to Doctor Blanc’s robots, so she was helpful in dealing with the loss of Ruby’s teammate. Plus, they were both looking for someone.

“Did you… find anything about…” Coco started, hesitantly.

Ruby shook her head. “Sorry Coco, no sign of Velvet yet.”

Coco looked disappointed, but not surprised. “I appreciate that you’re looking,” she said.

“Of course,” Ruby said, hugging her again.

Coco had gotten separated from Velvet when they had headed to Beacon to stop the invasion, and hadn’t seen her since. They had tried calling her, but it seemed her scroll had been destroyed, and her name was not on the list of prisoners that were taken that night. Vermillion kept that list up, as if to gloat. Wherever Velvet was, she was somewhere around Vale. But that was essentially all they could find. Coco was in a little despair in the fact that her wife was missing.

“And how about Yang?” Coco asked. “Find anything on her?”

“We…” Ruby paused, “found some evidence.”

“That’s great!” Coco declared. “Why don’t you look happy?”

“Because a mangled trail of bodies isn’t exactly the prettiest source of evidence,” Moon cut in.

“Oh.”

“Well, at least she’s alive and fighting?” Jaune proposed.

“Yeah… sure,” Moon said. “How’s Yin?”

Jaune laughed nervously. “The real question is: how many holes can she put into the walls when I tell her that she’s not cleared to go on the next mission? Because the answer is thirteen.”

Moon tried to hide her amusement, and failed. “I’ll talk to her.”

Jaune mouthed her a 'thank you’ before starting to talk to Ren and Nora.

Moon started walking towards the yellow-haired faunus on the other side of the massive hall, when she felt her girlfriend squeeze her hand.

“Do you need me?” Nina asked.

“No, I think it'd be better if I talked to her alone,” Moon responded.

With one last smile and squeeze of the hand, Nina left to go talk to some of the recruits from Beacon. Moon took a deep breath and approached Yin.

She was sitting on the floor, and seemed to have blown off enough steam. Now she only seemed a little depressed.

“It seems like you’re getting pretty amazing at using your semblance, Sis,” Moon said. “Thirteen light orbs in a short amount of time? Impressive.”

“Hey Moon,” Yin said without looking at her. “How’d the mission go?”

“How do you think it went?”

“Badly?” Yin looked up at Moon with her matching eyes.

“Very,” Moon returned.

“Well, at least you’re doing something,” Yin said. “I just feel… ugh, fucking useless.” She gestured to her stump with a bob of her head.

“Don’t. Ever. Say. That.” Moon warned. “You’re not useless. You lost an  _ arm _ , and here you are, fighting the good fight.”

Yin stood up and averted her gaze in frustration. “I wish I was actually  _ fighting _ . I’ve been on my ass for so long that it’s starting to cramp up. I just want to go out there and avenge Mom. Both of our moms.”

“Yin, be real. Huntresses with  _ two _ arms are getting their butts whooped by Vermillion. I’m sorry, but if Aunt Ruby can’t beat him, neither of us have a chance.”

“You say 'neither of us’, but you really mean me.”

“No, I mean neither of us,” Moon started leaning against a column. “Yin, I fought him.”

“You WHAT?” Yin shouted. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, because I ran like a coward,” Moon said, clutching at her belly. “He’s unstoppable, Yin. I don’t know how, but he’s a stronger fighter than all of us combined.”

“I never want to hear you call yourself a coward ever again,” Yin said. “You are the bravest huntsman to ever walk out of Beacon.”

“Just because I was at the top of my class doesn’t mean that I’m brave.  _ You’re _ the one that stayed composed with a gun to your head as a child.  _ You’re  _ the one that charged fearlessly at a sniper because he shot me. And  _ you _ would’ve stayed and fought for me if I was the one that lost the arm to Vermillion,” Moon’s eyes started tearing up yet again. “God, now I’m crying again. Look at the mighty huntress Moon Belladonna now. Useless and afraid.”

Yin firmly grabbed Moon’s shoulder with her remaining arm. “Stop it! Not only is that all a lie, but saying that stuff about yourself is not helping anyone. If I’m not allowed to say I’m useless, you sure as hell aren’t either.”

“I’m dragging everyone down with me, Yin. I hate it.”

“Fuck everyone else, I’m worried about  _ you _ . We’ve already lost the rest of our family. I don’t want you to lose yourself, too.”

“Yin-”

“No, you’re about to go into another goddamn sob story when you have no right to. You’re still alive, you have all of your limbs, and you’re still here. Even  _ Aunt Ruby’s _ worse off than you are. So what’s with the motherfucking pity party?”

An expression of guilt and hurt covered Moon’s face, and her ears drooped on her head.

“Moon… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. No filter, remember?” Yin rubbed her arm in shame until she realized that it wasn’t there.

“No… you’re right. I have no right to act like this. I’m being a child.”

Yin frowned in guilt. “Moon, that’s not-”

Moon hugged her. “Don’t blame yourself for being right. None of this is your fault.” Then Moon walked away.

“Moon, don’t… shit… I fucked up...” Yin sat down, put her hand over her eyes, and leaned her head back against the pillar.


	12. City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby sneaks through Vale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THESE THREE CHAPTERS WERE UPLOADED TOGETHER. DO NOT MISS THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS.

Ruby snuck through the dark streets. It was past curfew, so she wasn’t afraid of being recognized, but she didn’t particularly want to get caught for being up past curfew, either. That would end up being a massive inconvenience.

Luckily, she had memorized where every Watts-brand spy camera was in the entirety of Vale, so she knew how to avoid them.

She walked under one before taking a sharp turn to be in the blind spot of two cameras at once. Then she used her semblance to leap over the range of one posted on a street light. Doing that always gave her serious pain in her leg, but it was worth it to not get caught.

Eventually, she found her way to an alleyway near the Dust Till Dawn. She slipped into it, and then immediately relaxed. There were no cameras in there, so she allowed herself to be at ease.

After a second, Ruby turned to the small trash receptacle on the side of the alleyway. She reached around the can and grabbed the two yellow rubber gloves she had stored there and promptly put them on. People didn’t use this trash can often, because it was kind of out of the way, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. Thankfully, the only thing she felt in the can was a wadded-up piece of paper. She made an irrational check that no one was watching, then pulled it out. After taking off the gloves and putting them back in their hiding place, Ruby uncrumpled the paper.

 

_ It’s almost done. Give her my regards. _

_ -W.S. _

 

Ruby couldn’t help but smile at the familiar, calligraphic handwriting of the letter. But really, what was she expecting?

She tucked the letter into her pocket, then slid back out of the alleyway. She did her usual, skillful maneuvering around the camera blind spots. But then she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard voices from around a corner. She limped up to the wall and started listening.

“Hey, did you hear what happened at the Mistral stronghold?”

“Yeah, Octavian Azzar stopped an attack from Division Three. Kind of ironic, when you think about it.”

“Mhm. He left them, right?”

“Yup. Don’t tell anyone I said this,  _ especially  _ not Vermillion, but I think that chameleon faunus is only in this to keep himself safe. He doesn’t care about faunus rights or any of that crap.”

“No, I think you’re right. He seems to only have regard for his own safety. Don’t worry, man, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.”

Ruby peeked a little around the corner to see the men who were talking. They were wearing white armor with green accents, with Vermillion’s insignia of swords crossed over a green crown on the back of the chest plate. They were just wielding rifles.

“These high-ranking leaders that Vermillion chose are a little… odd,” said the taller of the two.

“Yeah, they are! I mean Violet? She’s very clearly not all there,” the other said, pointing at his own head.

“And Kopec is always, and I mean  _ always _ , fighting someone. I think he gets, like, a high out of it.”

“Forest doesn’t seem that bad, but he’s also  _ super _ militant. I’m kinda glad I’m not in his squad.”

“Plus the fact that his stronghold is in Atlas. I know you’re not great with the cold.”

“Yeah, I’m from Vacuo. Not  _ exactly _ the coldest of places,” the shorter of the two said. “What about the new chick? Gold? What do you think about her?”

“She creeps me out. Sometimes she just stares at stuff… I dunno. She can’t communicate, so I never have any idea what she’s thinking.”

“I get that. And then Watts? Why are we working with someone who conspired against the planet?”

“Because he’s useful, and he only cares about his freedom now,” a new, familiar voice said.

“Vermillion!” the taller soldier said. “We weren’t-”

“It’s fine, soldier,” Vermillion said, now in Ruby’s view. “I don’t mind criticism. You two are loyal, and that’s really what matters.”

“Of course, sir,” the shorter soldier said.

“If you have questions about how I’m running this kingdom, please ask them,” Vermillion said. “Feel free to speak as candidly as you would like. I promise that I won’t be upset by your concerns.”

“Umm… alright…” the taller one hesitated.

“Uhh… what brings you out here?” the other asked.

“The retaking of Kopec’s camp was quicker than expected. I just got back after helping his men settle back in,” Vermillion said. “I like to see how conditions are around the city from time to time, so I sometimes wander the streets a bit. Good question.”

“I guess my next question would be… what’s up with Violet?” the smaller soldier asked.

“Also a good question. It’s a form of schizophrenia. She hears voices and sees imaginary creatures.”

“Then… why is she in such a high-ranking position? Wouldn’t that get in the way of her decision-making?” the taller asked.

“She doesn’t let it get in her way. That’s  _ why _ she’s in that position. It takes a lot of willpower to fight your own mind.”

“I guess I can see that,” the shorter man said.

“Alright, where did Gold come from?” the taller asked.

“Unfortunately, that’s a question that I can’t answer. Gold is a difficult subject at the moment,” Vermillion said, walking closer to Ruby’s hiding spot and forcing her to draw further into the shadows to avoid being seen.

“I understand,” the taller soldier said.

“I do have one more question,” the shorter soldier said. “You seem to have a system of severe punishments for civilians who disobey your rule, but you hardly punish huntsmen anymore. Maybe a few days of being captured, but then you release them. Why is that?”

Vermillion nodded. “If I’m going to change the world, I’ll need the full cooperation of the people. One of the best ways of achieving that is by making examples of those who don’t cooperate. My rule may not be entirely popular, but I will not tolerate troublemakers among the general populace. Huntsmen, however, can be used as a constant reminder that my rule cannot be overthrown. The people see them fail over and over again, and many have already lost their faith in huntsmen. And, I also quite enjoy a good fight. That’s my, admittedly, more selfish reason for keeping them in the fray.”

“Alright, that makes sense, I guess,” the shorter soldier said.

Vermillion checked his wrist. “Gentlemen, this has been nice, but I  _ do _ have to meet with Watts about a project he recently finished development on. It’s going to change the way that we manage our strongholds. Keep up the good work, though. Maybe we’ll get the chance to talk again.”

The soldiers waved at him as he walked off. “Wow,” the taller one said. “He’s actually a pretty nice guy.”

“No, he really isn’t,” Ruby said from behind them before smashing their heads together and knocking them out.


	13. Setup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune tries to organize the huntsmen.

“Okay, role call everyone,” Jaune said to the people gathered around the table near the back wall of the vault.

“Jaune, we’re all here,” Neptune said.

“It’s a good habit to have. We want to make sure everyone is accounted for,” Jaune said. “So, Ruby?”

“Yo,” Ruby said.

“Moon, Yin?”

“Here,” Moon said, lost in thought.

“Also here,” Yin said, looking concerned.

“Neptune?”

“Dude, we’re all here. Let’s move on,” Neptune said.

“Alright, fine,” Jaune said with a huff. It was almost a unanimous decision to make Jaune the leader. He was really good at deciding where and when huntsmen should be deployed. Even though Ruby was more or less the poster child of the resistance, Jaune was the one in charge of the more difficult decisions.

Ruby scanned the room. She saw Nora actively trying to distract Ren, Neptune getting impatient, Reese fiddling with her board, Coco and Yatsuhashi chatting quietly, Yin and Moon acting… odd towards each other, Nina and the few Beacon students in a group together, and Jaune, obviously, trying to maintain order. Oobleck was there too, but not at the war table, as his legs were very badly damaged and he needed to heal. And… that was it. Those were all of the huntsmen that they were able to gather, since communications were cut off to the other kingdoms and Velvet and Yang were… indisposed.

“Okay, back to the matter at hand,” Jaune said. “I think we might as well attack another stronghold to keep the pressure on Vermillion. We’ll use a different team than the last one, though, to give the first team time to rest and recuperate.”

“Actually, I’d like to volunteer for this mission,” Moon said.

Yin was caught off guard. “Moon-”

“I refuse to run from him again, and I’m taking the chance to face him. I didn’t even lose my aura in the last fight. I’ll be fine,” Moon said.

“Even so,” Jaune said, “I don’t think it’s a great idea.”

“Your choices are either send me now, or have me temporarily blind everyone and go on my own,” Moon threatened.

Jaune sighed. “Alright, we have one volunteer. Anyone else?”

“Yeah, I’m going,” Ruby said. “I’m not letting Moon get into danger like that without me.”

“Ruby, I can handle myself,” Moon said.

“You haven’t been doing it very well recently,” Ruby countered. “I’m going.”

Jaune massaged his temples. “Fine, but you two can’t fight like this while you’re on the mission. Other than that, just stay safe.”

“We’re huntresses, Jaune,” Moon said. “Safe isn’t part of the equation.”

 Jaune sighed, again. “Coco, Yatsu, Reese, you guys are with them. Nina, we need your help with some mechanical troubles in the base.”

Nina looked ready to argue, but stopped herself when she met eyes with Moon. She had a look that Nina had learned from several years of dating her introverted faunus girlfriend. It was the look of 'I love you to bits, but I don’t really need you here right now. Sorry.'

“Okay,” Nina said, unsure if she was responding to Jaune’s spoken request or Moon’s unspoken one. She  _ did _ give Moon a big hug, though.

“Well, we have our roster,” Jaune announced. “Start getting ready. Remember: pack light, and don’t take anything that you couldn’t bear to leave behind.”

As the small crowd dispersed, Yin caught Moon before she could leave.

“If you die,” she said, “I will find your body and punch it in the face. So don’t die.”

“At this point, I don’t even care,” Moon said before quickly escaping Yin’s grasp and heading to pack her things.

Yin sighed, then made a B-line for Jaune.

“Permission to be sent on the mission so I can help protect my sister?” she asked.

“Sorry Yin, but I’ll have to deny that request,” Jaune responded. “I’m sorry to say it, but you’re still not at 100%. And it really seems like Moon doesn’t  _ want _ protection…”

“I know, and I’m really worried about her. She acts less and less like her old self every day,” Yin rubbed her hand through her own hair.

Jaune nodded sadly. “I could see that it was a little worse today. It might be because of what they found outside of the stronghold.”

Yin’s cat ears perked up. “What did they find?”

“Evidence of your Mom. Of Yang.”

“What?! That’s great news! Fuck yeah!” Yin said excitedly.

“Well… not exactly…” Jaune said. “It’s not exactly the prettiest of evidence. It’s a line of mangled corpses.”

Yin sobered up a little. “Alright, that’s kind of bad. But it’s still a sign! We should go out looking for her.”

Jaune sighed. “Tell you what, while your sister and aunt are out on mission, I’ll get you into a training routine. Then maybe we can send you on the next one.”

Yin nodded appreciatively. “You won’t regret this.”

“No, I won’t,” Jaune said with a smile.

___

 

Nina caught up with Moon while she was packing.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Nina said. “Because with everything that’s going on, it’s okay if you’re not okay.”

“No, Nina, I’m not okay,” Moon said, ceasing to pack but not looking up. “There’s just… a lot.”

“I’m worried about you,” Nina said. “We’re  _ all _ worried about you, actually. I can tell. You aren’t acting like the cheerful dork of a team leader I met at Beacon.”

“We’re in war, Frostie,” Moon said, using her girlfriend’s pet name. “I can’t afford to be who I was. She wasn’t made for any of this.”

Nina forced herself between Moon and her bag before gripping the faunus tightly into a hug. “But I loved dork Moon. I loved the bookworm who sometimes got so absorbed in a story that we had to throw stuff at her to get her out of it. I loved the Moon whose tongue stuck out a little bit when she was thinking hard. I loved the Moon that would finish tests long before anyone else did and then would start drawing pictures for the rest of her team members. And I still love this Moon, but I wish she could be happy again.”

Moon sighed. “I guess I wish the same thing, but things feel kind of hopeless right now. It isn’t easy to be happy about any of this.”

“I know, but just… try. For me?” Nina planted a kiss on Moon’s cheek, and then on her lips. “And please be safe. We all care about you dearly. Ruby, Yin, and I would be devastated if you got hurt.”

Moon nodded silently as she moved to continue packing.

___

 

After originally settling in the vault, Ruby had promptly found somewhere where she could be alone and cry.

She tried to keep composed at all times when there were people around. She was a leader, and she had to keep a level head. But when the job was done, she had so much pent-up emotion that she had to let it all out.

She had made a little personal hideout in the maze of catacombs that led to the Emerald Forest entrance. There, she was less likely to be heard or found.

Today was a day that Ruby needed to use her hideout. Promptly after the meeting ended, she made her way there. As soon as she reached it, she broke down into a sobbing mess. Things she had heard and seen kept playing in her head. The image of Vermillion’s sword going through Blake’s chest. The look of despair on Yang’s face as she ran away. Moon and Nina dragging Yin out of their burning house. And, just now, overhearing Moon saying that she didn’t care if she lived or died. It might have been minutes or hours that she was in there. Ruby was balled up on the floor and cried her heart out, and she didn’t care.

She wasn’t expecting the hand being placed on her shoulder, though.

“Ruby?” she heard Coco’s voice say. She turned around and saw her, Nora, and Ren all in her secret sanctuary. Ruby’s mind refused to process it. Nobody was supposed to find this place.

Ruby tried to say something, but it just came out as sputters. Coco pulled her torso up off the ground and hugged it.

“Ruby, what’s wrong?” Coco asked through the hug.

“We heard you while we were making a routine check of the catacombs,” Ren said.

“Are you alright?” Nora asked.

Ruby just sobbed. She couldn’t stop it. The floodgates were open.

Thankfully, the others stayed quiet as Ruby continued to cry. Eventually the sobs died down, leaving only sniffling. That’s when Coco pulled a little away from the embrace.

“Ruby, what happened?” she asked.

“Nothing happened,” Ruby said weakly. “I… it’s just a lot…” Ruby fought the urge to start crying again.

“Easy, easy,” Coco cradled Ruby’s head in her arms.

“I didn’t want anyone to s-see this…” Ruby said.

“Emotions are something we all deal with,” Ren said.

“Wait, how long has…  _ this _ been happening?” Nora asked.

After a shaky breath, Ruby said, “Since… since four months ago…”

Coco’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, this whole time I’ve been acting like you were okay when you weren’t! I’m such an idiot!”

“No, C-Coco, it’s not your fault. I’ve b-been hiding it… and I’m okay, r-really…”

“No you aren’t!” Coco nearly shouted. “You’ve been bottling your emotions up and letting yourself suffer in silence. And none of us have been helping you! I wish you would’ve told one of us, we could have at least been there for you to talk to…”

“You guys are always helping me,” Ruby said. “You guys have helped me so much… it's not your job to deal with my breakdowns. I don’t want to put that on you.”

“Well, too bad. We know about it now and there’s nothing you can do to stop us from trying to help,” Nora said, walking over and joining Ruby and Coco’s hug. Ren kneeled down beside them.

“We aren’t going to tell anyone about this, but we’re not going to let you do it alone anymore, either,” Coco said with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you,” Ruby barely whispered, pulling tighter into the hug. She wondered what she had done to deserve amazing friends like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever just need to cry?
> 
> Hopefully not right now! I hope you have a good day. Or a great one! I'm not picky!


	14. Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happens after the huntsmen take the stronghold.

Taking the stronghold wasn’t very difficult. They could assume that this was the stronghold that Gold was going to take over, but as she was currently still in 'training’ with Vermillion it was only guarded by low-skill soldiers. They were more of a nuisance than a threat.

“Alright, cool, we did it,” Moon said with little actual enthusiasm.

“You don’t seem happy about that,” Coco commented.

“No, I’m happy, just… bored I guess. I kinda wanted to fight someone like Kopec again,” Moon said with a smile. Seeing that took a weight off of Ruby’s chest. At least she was happy.

“Y’know, boring’s usually a good thing when it comes to fighting a dictator’s army,” Reese said.

“I know, but… well, I guess I don’t really have an excuse,” Moon said, still smiling a little.

Ruby limped over to her. “You look like you’re feeling better,” she said.

“I’m just taking my mind off things,” Moon said. “I don’t want to think about my problems right now.”

Ruby shrugged. “Alright, whatever works.”

Coco gestured to Reese and Yatsuhashi. “Can you two scan the camp for any stragglers or spies?”

“We will do our best,” Yatsuhashi said before putting his massive sword away and gesturing his head towards Reese. She rode her hoverboard away as he followed on foot.

As Moon folded up her double-scythe, Coco approached. “So, you two ready to eat some MREs?”

“Heck no, I’m cooking,” Moon said. “What do you want, fire-roasted pork or kebabs?”

“Kebabs, please!” Ruby requested.

“Kebabs it is!” Moon said.

“You seem a little different, Moon,” Coco said. “Different in a good way.”

“It’s a good day for me.”

“Well, that’s good. We all like to see you happy,” Coco said.

Moon smiled warmly at her. Then, after she looked over the older huntress’s shoulder, her smile dropped and her eyes widened.

___

 

Yang had just been wandering through the woods looking for something to eat. She hadn’t expected to stumble upon a stronghold, and she  _ certainly _ wasn’t expecting to see her sister and daughter there.

A foreign wave of panic washed over Yang. What if they didn’t want her back? What if they were hoping to never see her again?

And when Moon spotted her, the near-hatred that Yang saw in her eyes was enough to confirm her doubts.

So Yang did what she thought was best for everyone. She ran back into the woods.

___

 

“Ruby, stop her!” Moon called out, pointing at her fleeing mother.

When Ruby followed the gesture with her eyes, all she saw was a flash of yellow. But it was enough to get her motivated. She burst into petals and dashed into the woods.

A few moments later, she was able to tackle Yang to the ground.

“Get off!” Yang practically screamed as she struggled. “Let me go!”

Ruby didn’t budge. “Yang, stop running! What is wrong with you?!”

“What’s wrong with me?! My wife  _ died! _ ” Yang threw Ruby off of herself and started running again, but this time she didn’t get far. Ruby put her in an armbar quickly and efficiently.

“We  _ all  _ lost Blake. Your daughters did, too. So why weren’t you there for them?”

“I’m a failure, Ruby. I couldn’t stop my wife from dying. They deserve better than me.”

“ _ What kind of logic is that, _ Yang? Yin and Moon  _ needed _ you! In a way, I did too!” But then Ruby took a good look at Yang’s malnourished body. “God, what have you been doing to yourself?”

“I…” Yang started getting choked up. “It’s been rough…”

“So, what, you would rather starve in the wilderness than face your family again?”

“They deserve better than me… they deserve better than me…” Yang choked out.

“Do you think they deserve to be alone? Motherless? Because that’s how you left them.”

“ _ I  _ don’t deserve  _ them _ .”

“Yang, just… stop,” the anger in Ruby’s face suddenly faded away. “Losing against Kopec was not your fault. We had no idea what to expect. And I’ve fought Vermillion. I don’t know how, but he’s able to defeat several huntsman at a time without taking a scratch. We probably couldn’t have stopped Blake’s death even if we had gotten to her.”

“But-”

“No buts, Yang. There was nothing you could’ve done,” Ruby said, sternly but not cruelly. “And you’re destroying yourself over something that you had no control over. It hurts me to see you like this.”

Ruby let go of Yang’s arm, confident that she wouldn’t run this time. Her confidence was well-founded, as Yang simply slumped down to the ground and buried her face in her hands. Both her flesh and mechanical ones looked quite beat-up.

Some rustling of leaves prefaced Moon emerging from the brush. She stopped in front of the two older huntresses. The faunus’s violet eyes met the matching ones of her mother. She then silently looked Yang up and down with a cold gaze. The only sound between them was the sound of the leaves in the breeze, and the slight trickling of a nearby stream.

Yang tried to break the tense silence. “Moon, I-”

Moon put a hand up. “I don’t want to talk about anything right now,” she said before turning away. “Dinner’s in an hour and a half. We’re having kebabs. You look like you need it.” Then she walked away.

After a brief moment of silence, Yang said, “I… does that mean that she forgives me?”

Ruby narrowed her eyes. “I think it means that she’s willing to hear your side of the story. I’d recommend that you take the option she’s giving you.” She then stood up and reached her hand out for Yang to take. The brawler obliged. “We’ll need to have our own conversation about this, too.”

“I’m… I don’t think I’m ready to talk yet… but… yeah, I’ll come in an hour or two. I just need to collect myself, I guess.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ruby said before turning to leave. But then, mid-movement, she turned her head to look at her sister with a look of warning in her eyes. “But if you don’t show, we’ll be having a  _ very _ different conversation the next time we meet.” The red-haired huntress then disappeared into the brush.

Yang breathed out a long breath. Whether it was of relief or discomfort was unknown to even her. But she was getting the feeling that things were going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked this chapter, even if no one else did. So yay!
> 
> You. Have a good day. I demand it!


	15. Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vermillion has some 'new' weapons.

Ruby returned to a scene of chaos. And it was much, much worse than the last few times she had returned to a scene of chaos.

She was mentally prepared to see some of Vermillion’s lackeys, and yes, they were there. She was prepared to see Vermillion himself, and yes, he was there too. What she hadn’t expected to see was-

“Well would you look who the cat dragged in. If it isn’t the rose,” Kopec shouted in his booming voice. “We brought some old friends of yours. Watts has been working on them for quite some time!”

Then, an all-too-familiar robot teleported in front of Ruby. She was barely able to get Crescent Rose open fast enough to block the blade aimed in her direction. She looked around to see at least seven perfect reconstructions of Mars Blanc’s robots attacking her allies. Kopec, Vermillion, and Gold were just sitting there, watching the automatons do their work for them.

“I realized that I wouldn’t be able to retake  _ every _ stronghold that you capture, so Watts gave me a solution, with a little help from Merlot,” Vermillion said over the sounds of combat. “Consider this a beta test.”

“Ruby!” Moon called out. Ruby caught sight of her battling two robots and used her semblance to approach. She immediately regretted it, though, as her leg began throbbing with pain. Moon noticed it. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Ruby breathed through her teeth, using Crescent’s shaft to block a swipe directed toward Moon.

“Well, can you do that again? We need to get past these robots,” Moon said, looking in Vermillion’s direction.

Ruby nodded. “I can try.” She attempted to pick Moon up in a bridal-carry, failed, then tried again and succeeded, all while Moon was knocking away the attacks of the robots that were slowly surrounding them. Just before Ruby had her situated, Moon shot the head off of one of the bots. Of course, a new head flipped up onto the mechanical shoulders right afterwards.

Ruby took off past the robots, knocking a few to the ground in the process. She tried her hardest to reach the center of the circle of robots, but her leg gave out too quickly. She went tumbling across the ground, as did her niece.

Then Moon got to her feet and sprung up into the air. “Hey, Vermillion!” she shouted midair as she began to glow white.

All of Moon’s allies who could see her recognized this sign and covered their eyes. Vermillion seemed to wait until the last possible second before doing the same. With his eyes still occluded, he sidestepped Moon’s dropkick and then stuck out his arm and clotheslined her.

“Sorry, but I’m on my break. If you want to fight someone, try the robots,” he said, removing the hand from his eyes.

“No. You need to pay for your crimes,” Moon said, scrambling back up to her feet.

“Well, I suppose if you insist,” Vermillion said, grinning.

___

 

Reese looked past the robots she was fighting in shock. “Is she trying to face Vermillion  _ on her own?! _ ”

Coco followed her gaze. “Shit, that’s idiotic! What the fuck is she thinking?!” She took out her minigun and prepared to fire at Vermillion. But she was knocked on her rear by a robot tackling her. “We can’t get to her right now,” Coco said, struggling to get out of the robot’s pin.

“Come on, Ruby, help her…” Reese mumbled to herself.

___

 

Ruby regained consciousness to feel a shooting pain in her leg, and a dull pain all along her side from sliding across the ground. It took a second to regain her senses, but when she did, she didn’t like what she saw.

She saw Moon take three consecutive sword hits, her red aura fizzling from the slices. Then a final kick to the head from Vermillion took care of the rest of her natural shield. She lied on the floor, dazed and disoriented.

Ruby ignored her bones and muscles screaming at her not to move. Moon needed help.

She used her semblance one last time, this time not to go very far. When she appeared in front of Vermillion, she lashed out with her scythe. Vermillion ducked under the hit with seemingly little effort, and then kicked Ruby in the leg. Yes, in  _ that _ leg. She crumpled to the ground in anguish.

“This is getting easier every time,” Vermillion said.

Ruby turned her head to look at Moon, who was struggling to stand up and losing the battle. They had lost.

But then she heard a beautiful sound. Not because it was a satisfying noise and not because it was the same sound her own weapon made when it fired. It was because it was the sound of Ember Celica.

Yang blew several robots away from the other huntsman and huntresses, and then got a clear view of what was behind the mechanical creations. She saw her daughter and her sister beaten on the ground, and standing above them she saw-

Yang’s eyes instantly turned red as she launched in.

Vermillion, somehow, was able to block punches with swords. Even though Yang was attacking in a fury, Vermillion was somehow still not taking a hit. And Yang was taking plenty.

It wasn’t long before her fiery aura dropped. She tried to continue fighting anyways, but then Kopec caught her midair.

“Alright, we should wrap this up,” he said before throwing her to the ground.

Vermillion frowned. “Come on, Kopec.”

“Look, I know you enjoy fighting. I do too. But we  _ do  _ have other matters to attend to,” Kopec said. “For instance, you have an entire kingdom to run.”

Ruby turned her body to look at Coco, Reese, and Yatsuhashi, who were being driven out of the camp by a dozen robots.

Vermillion sighed. “Alright. But…” he gestured his sword from Ruby, to Yang, and finally to Moon, “I think I’m in the mood to take some prisoners this time.”

Yang and Moon both got up and were about to attack again, but Ruby grabbed them both as she struggled to her feet.

“Guys, don’t do something stupid. All you’re going to do is get yourselves killed. And I really can’t deal with losing another member of my family,” she said.

“She’s got a point,” Vermillion said with a smirk, pointing a sword at Moon’s throat.

Moon glared at him, but hesitantly dropped her scythe. Yang’s eyes were still red and her fists were still clenched, but she didn’t move. Gold came around and took their weapons, even though Yang looked like she was ready to bite her head off when the blonde enemy pressed the switch to remove her prosthetic arm.

The other huntsmen were forced to retreat, and a few robots were still remaining in the stronghold. Vermillion approached them.

“Stop lingering and go back to the CCT,” he said. “We’re done here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please have a great day! That's all I've got to say!


	16. Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moon and Yang finally have that talk.

Ruby, Yang, and Moon were locked in a room until a proper holding cell could be prepared for them. It was quite dark, which was not a problem for Moon but it made it a bit more dreary for Yang and Ruby.

“Well, this is just great,” Moon said after several minutes of silence.

“It’s not that bad,” Ruby said. “I’ve been taken captive by Vermillion before. He usually lets you go after a day or two.”

“Why’s that?” Yang asked.

“The guy has some sort of an addiction to fighting. He loves it,” Ruby said. “He wants to keep as many enemies in circulation as he can so that he doesn’t have to stop fighting.”

“And yet he didn’t do the same thing for Blake,” Yang said with sadness and anger combined in her voice.

“Yeah, but he left  _ you  _ alive. Didn’t exactly 'keep you in circulation',” Moon said, her voice dripping with spite.

“Moon, I don’t think this is the right time for this discussion,” Ruby said.

“No, I think this is the  _ perfect _ time for this discussion. I’m eager to hear what she has to say for herself,” Moon practically shouted.

“Moon,” Yang took a moment to collect the words she had been practicing since she had seen her daughter. “I know I shouldn’t have run. It wasn’t fair to you, and I’m sorry.”

“God damn it, do you really think I’m angry for myself?!” Moon yelled in her mother’s face.

Yang didn’t respond. She wasn’t expecting that response.

“Yin woke up from a coma, missing an arm and having no idea where her mothers were.  _ I  _ had to explain to her what happened! She was in tears when she heard about Mom, and I was half-tempted to tell her that the same had happened to you. It would have probably been easier to hear than the truth, which was that you had left her right after she lost her arm and her mother in the span of two days, and when she needed you the most!”

The corners of Yang’s eyes began to gather tears. “Moon, I-”

“No, ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t cut it,” Moon said. “Your apology won’t fix the time that me and Yin both felt so alone. Ruby and Nina were the only ones that kept me grounded. And 'sorry’ won't fix all of the people who I’ve been dragging down with me.”

Ruby cut in, “Moon, you haven’t-”

“Yes. I have. I’ve been ruining everybody’s lives,” Moon said. “Don’t think I didn’t know about your secret break-down room. I’m sure I’ve been contributing to that.”

“Moon, you’re not ruining anyone’s lives,” Ruby said. “Don’t ever say that about yourself.”

“Yeah,” Yang said, even though seeing her daughter like this felt like a needle through the heart. “You’re a wonderful, cheerful person. You make everyone around you happier.”

“Newsflash,  _ Mom _ ,” Moon said with venom. “That’s not me anymore. I’m not the cheerful person you left behind on Patch. I don’t make people happy. Not since I lost both of my mothers.” Moon’s voice became more subdued. “I’ve had way too much to deal with, and Ruby was the only one there to listen. You could’ve helped. But you didn’t. You left me to deal with everything on my own.”

Yang paused to let Moon continue, but it seemed she didn’t have anything more to say. The blonde huntress took a deep breath. “There’s no excuse for me running away. I don’t deserve forgiveness for that, and I don’t expect it from you. I saw your mom get cut down, and I lost it. The decisions I made after that were all irrational and reckless. But I failed her. If I had been better at my job, she would still be alive.”

“Yang, that isn’t your fault,” Ruby said.

“You say that, but if I had beaten Kopec, things might have gone differently,” Yang said. “I wish that I was the one who got killed by Vermillion.”

Ruby gave her a cautious but stern look. “Yang-”

“Blake would have dealt with all of this better. She’s already gotten past her days of running away from her problems. Apparently I haven’t.” Yang’s voice started to tremble as she looked at Moon. “She would’ve been a good mother after it happened. She wouldn’t have failed as much as I have.”

“And so, what? You’re slowly killing yourself from starvation because she died? I have a feeling that wouldn’t have been what she wanted,” Moon said.

“I ran, and wasn’t planning on coming back to society until after I killed Vermillion. I was angry, and depressed, and confused. I didn’t know what my life was worth without Blake,” Yang said. “I still don’t know…”

She jumped in surprise when Moon gave her a hug. “You still have a chance to make things better. You already screwed up, and you can’t undo that. But Yin is willing to give you a second chance, and so am I.”

Yang was speechless. All she could manage to do was reciprocate the hug.

Then the door to the room opened and a few guards came in, followed by Gold. The mute enemy typed something into her scroll and handed it to one of the guards.

“She says she wants us to double-check that the cell is fully prepped,” he said to the other guards while handing the scroll back to Gold.

The blonde stayed in the doorway as the guards departed. Then she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Finally, I get to be alone with you three,” the woman they previously thought to be mute said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUNNNNN!


	17. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold has some secrets.

“I thought you were a mute!” Moon exclaimed.

“Vermillion lied. Surprising no one,” Ruby said.

Gold shook her head. “It’s not lying if he didn’t  _ know _ the truth.”

“So you’ve been lying to him?” Yang asked.

Gold nodded.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

Gold didn’t respond. Instead, she reached a hand up to her hair, and her other hand to her eyes. She took out the blue contacts in her eyes and removed the blonde wig and bald cap. Once those were all dropped to the floor, they could all see who was standing before them. It was suddenly obvious, once they could see the black hair, amber eyes, and cat ears.

All three of the prisoners’ eyes went wide, and immediately filled with tears.

“Mom?!” Moon shouted, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around her mother.

“Shhhh, don’t say that so loudly. I’m undercover,” Blake said, but she still accepted the embrace. “Hey, Moon.”

“Blake…?” Yang said as if she didn’t believe this was real. Her eyes were rapidly becoming blurry from the water filling them.

Blake looked up at her wife, and it was her turn to tear up. “Yang…”

Yang joined the hug immediately, and it took all of Blake’s willpower not to topple over from the force of it. Ruby stood nearby, not knowing if she should join, before Blake beckoned her over.

“C’mere, Sis,” the faunus said with a trembling voice.

Ruby needed no more approval. She limped a few feet towards the rest of the group and tightly hugged all of them. They stayed like that for a while, hugging and crying.

Then Blake started to pull away. “I’ve missed all of you so much.”

“We thought you were dead…” Moon said in a shaky voice.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Blake said. “I couldn’t contact you. They screen everything sent off of scrolls. I couldn’t risk blowing my cover, even if I really, really wanted to.”

“But- but we all  _ watched _ you die! How… how…” Ruby could hardly compose herself.

“I knew that fight with Vermillion was going south. I knew that he was going to do something big, and I wouldn’t be able to stop him in that fight. So, I thought that if I faked my death, I could catch him by surprise. Unfortunately, me ‘dying’ was exactly what he needed...” Blake wiped tears from her eyes. “But if I continued fighting, there was no doubt that I would have really died. And if I had retreated, Vermillion would have likely just ordered his men to blow up Ace, and then sent all of his men to kill you two and Weiss. I couldn’t let that happen. So, I used my semblance.”

“Your copies have never done…  _ that  _ before!” Ruby said.

Blake nodded. “It’s something that the White Fang taught me how to do. A false death, in case I need to fool pursuers. I don’t like using it for multiple reasons, but one of them is that it takes a lot of energy. After I slipped out of that crowd, I passed out in the woods.”

A sob drew Blake’s attention back to Yang. She hadn’t let go of her embrace one bit, and the shoulder that the blonde was resting her head on was particularly damp.

“Yang?” Blake started petting her wife’s yellow locks.

“I missed you so much… I couldn’t live without you…” Yang sobbed again.

“Baby,” Blake wrapped her arms over Yang’s shoulders. “Baby, it’s okay. I’m here.”

Yang sniffled. “I was so broken…”

“But you’re here now,” Blake said. “All of you are. You all stayed fighting, even against all odds.”

Yang looked at her feet, but Moon took her hand.

“Yeah, we have,” the daughter said, giving Yang’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“So, you’ve been spying on Vermillion this whole time?” Ruby asked.

Blake nodded. “I don’t have long to give you information. The guards will be back soon.” Blake replaced her blue contacts and put her bald cap back over her ears. Then she took a piece of paper out of one of her pockets and handed it to Ruby. “But I have this.”

Ruby opened the paper. “What is it?”

As she placed the blonde wig upon her head, Blake responded. “It’s the location that they’re keeping Oscar. Ozpin. Go find him. It’s heavily guarded, but one person should be able to sneak in and talk to him. I’m sure he’ll have an idea of what to do.”

Ruby nodded and stowed the paper, just before the guards from before re-entered the room. Blake, or rather Gold, nodded to them.

“Come on, prisoners,” one of them said. Each huntress had two guards secure their arms, and they were led out of the building.

But this time they didn’t resist. They happily were led to their cell, because they, for the first time in a long time, had a plan. And they had hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Blake!
> 
> Some of you were very upset. Perhaps this fixes that!


	18. Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby goes to see Ozpin.

Yang, Moon, and Ruby were only kept for a couple of days before Vermillion, much to the dissatisfaction of Kopec, gave the order for their release. Once they were a distance from the camp, they checked themselves and their weapons for tracking devices.

They realized they were clean, and then they headed to the nearest entrance to the Beacon Vault. Yang hesitated for a moment, but Moon was able to coax her into coming with them.

The reunion of Yin and Yang was tearful to say the least. Yin, unlike Moon, was not angry at her mother one bit. On the contrary, she was simply relieved to see Yang come home to them. Nina was mildly passive-aggressive towards her, but that was to be expected.

They shared probably the first  _ real _ meal that Yang had had for quite some time. Over the course of it, the three huntresses explained the good news about Blake. Everyone was ecstatic to hear it, and Yang almost cried from happiness all over again.

Then Ruby explained Blake’s plan to talk with Ozpin, and- to the objection of both Moon and Jaune- she volunteered to carry it out.

“Look, all I’m saying is that you have been on two missions in a row. So have I, and I’m taking a break,” Moon said, interrupting Ruby while she got her stuff from the previous stronghold raid unpacked.

“Moon, I know you’re concerned. It’s an interesting role reversal. But I want to do this. I’m the fastest of all of us, and that means I can get in and out quickly.”

“But-”

“And I’m  _ really _ anxious to hear what Oscar’s plan is,” Ruby interrupted. “We haven’t had a chance like this in the entirety of Vermillion’s reign, and I want to be there to see it through.”

Moon sighed. “Look, I want to argue with you more, but I know that you aren’t going to relent. So let’s just skip that part,” she said. Then she gave a sad smile. “Just take care of yourself. Don’t get into a fight if you don’t have to, and use your semblance only when it’s completely necessary. Your leg kinda got beat up in that last fight.”

Ruby nodded. “And you, play nice with Yang. She’s trying hard to be better for you.”

“Hey, I said I’d give her a second chance. I never said that I forgave her,” Moon said. “It’s gonna be an uphill climb for her to get my trust back and she knows that.”

Then Ruby sighed. “Just… let her talk to you. Don’t shut her out.”

Moon smirked. “Oh, don’t worry. She has a  _ lot _ of talking to do.”

Ruby nodded, then headed for the exit to Forever Fall. Moon followed her.

“Okay, last thing. If you need help, go ahead and give me a call. I’ll come as fast as I can with as many people as you need.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Alright,  _ mom _ .”

Moon smiled. “Be sure to be in bed by eight, and  _ no making out with any girls _ .”

Ruby couldn’t help but grin. “Moon, you’re ridiculous.” Then she pulled her niece into a tight hug and headed out.

___

 

After the war against Salem, Forever Fall had become an attempt at expansion. A few buildings were built in the edge of the forest, and very few Grimm attacks actually occurred. Before Vermillion took over, the kingdom of Vale was just about to expand their efforts, but the tyrant had gotten in the way of that project. Or so they had thought.

Blake’s coordinates led to the part of Forever Fall with the oldest and tallest trees. Trees tall enough to hide the entire civilization residing in there.

As Ruby entered, she saw several large buildings and even a six-story tower that no one had even known existed. Lamps lit the entire area, as the trees blocked any sunlight that would have normally brightened the place. Only a red glow came from the limbs above.

Though Ruby was tempted to check out the tower, she wanted to see Oscar first. So she made her way (sneakily) to one of the large buildings. It was three stories, and very rectangular. It had barred windows, and two guards were stationed outside of the front (and only) door. Definitely the prison.

Ruby kept to the shadows as to avoid the attention of the guards, but she also prepped Crescent Rose. Those guards probably weren’t going to let her in without a fight.

But her grasp on her scythe loosened slightly as she, once again, saw the person who had caused so much of her strife.

“Ruby Rose, I know where you are,” Vermillion said, pointing a gun at her without even looking.

“How are you everywhere?” Ruby asked through her teeth as she stepped out into the open.

“This time it’s your fault,” Vermillion said. “ _ You _ came to  _ my _ home base. And you must think I’m crazy if you think I wouldn’t have filled this place up with cameras and motion sensors.”

Ruby growled. “So are you going to stop me?”

“Nope.”

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’m just here to prevent you from trying a massive jailbreak. I don’t mind you visiting your father or your headmaster or… whoever else you’re here for. Visiting hours are open.”

Ruby looked at him incredulously. “Really?”

“I highly doubt that anything that anyone here can tell you will be of much help to you. I don't know if you've noticed, but your efforts to stop me haven't been very successful,” Vermillion said, putting his sidearm away. “My one condition is that Kopec doesn’t hear about this. He’s already frustrated enough with me about letting you go earlier. I’d prefer not to add to that.”

“Do you really expect me to keep a promise like that?” Ruby said, voice dripping with hostility.

“Honestly, not really. But I thought I’d try,” Vermillion said. Then he turned to the guards. “Open the door, please. We have a guest.”

___

 

It was very hard to resist the urge to visit her father as they passed by a door marked with his name, but Ruby stayed focused on her mission.

_ Sorry Dad, I’m sure you’d understand. _

Vermillion led her to the door labeled 'Oscar Pine’ on the third floor. He gestured for her to open the door and enter, and followed behind her.

“Hey Ozpin, I brought a surprise for you,” he said, tapping on the bars.

Oscar reluctantly turned to face them, but then a mild expression of surprise crossed his features. “Miss Ro- er, Ruby… you’ve been captured?”

“Believe it or not, no. Vermillion is actually  _ letting _ me see you.”

Oscar looked inquisitively at the tyrant.

“Well, I’m starting to get bored of our little tussles at the strongholds,” Vermillion said, leaning on the back wall of the visitation area. “I think the most that this conversation could do is make our battles a little less predictable. It’ll be a nice change-up.”

Oscar sighed. “Well, it’s at least nice to see that you’re okay, Ruby.”

“And it’s nice to see your face again, headmaster,” Ruby said.

“Alright, enough with the pleasantries. I’m just dying for you two to start plotting against me!” Vermillion said, uncrossing his arms as he continued leaning against the back wall.

Oscar gave him a weird look. So did Ruby.

Vermillion rolled his eyes. “Alright, I know when I’m not wanted. Go ahead and make your secret plans without me.” He turned towards the door. “I’ll be outside, in case you want to try something stupid.” Then he walked out.

“Does he seriously not care what you say to me?” Ruby asked, still staring at the door.

“He may be the single most overconfident enemy I have ever faced,” Oscar said.

Ruby sighed. “Though I hate to say it, his cockyness isn’t unfounded. He’s extremely tough to beat, and I don’t know why.”

Oscar nodded. “It is an enigma. Somehow, even when I used the full force of my magic, he was able to best me with traditional weaponry.”

“It’s also kind of freaky how he and his crew came out of literally nowhere,” Ruby said.

Oscar shook his head. “Actually, I’ve been thinking on that, and perhaps I should have seen this coming,” Oscar said.

“Hm?” Ruby hummed.

“I realized where Vermillion came from primarily because of Kopec Cervine,” Oscar said. “Beacon has had many hundreds of students pass through it, and Kopec was one of those pupils. In fact, he was there the year before you and your team joined the academy. He and his team were on their second year, and went on a mission to Mistral with a huntsman guide. Apparently, he saw something in Mistral that he didn’t like, because he dropped out of Beacon immediately after he returned. Him, and his partner Evan Gray.”

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. “Vermillion?”

Oscar nodded. “He wasn’t lying about his heritage, but he did change his name to make it more apparent.” Oscar then sighed. “But… there were some signs that something like this might happen. A while after the two left Beacon, there was an increase in riots among the poor of Mistral and the workers in Atlas, and there were White Fang bases being destroyed out of nowhere. He was trying to instigate large changes even before he came up with his big plan. But, a few years back, all of these things just stopped. I had thought that the problems had been solved, but it is apparent now that that was simply the calm before the storm. He was calculating his victory, and no amount of magic that I possess could have helped me foresee it.”

Ruby walked closer to the bars of the cell. “Well, why haven’t you used that magic of yours to bust out of this place?”

Oscar sat down on his bed and rested his elbows on his legs. “Vermillion was clearly prepared to take me prisoner. The crossings of magic and technology are few, but they do exist. Somehow, Watts made a device to keep me from using my magic whilst in the confines of this cell.”

Ruby moved to the bars and pulled out Crescent Rose. “Then let’s get you out of it.”

Oscar held up a hand. “Vermillion may be egotistical, but he isn’t foolish. He likely has more than a few fallback plans for if I am released. I’m afraid that I will not be able to help you win this war.”

Ruby put her weapon back into its holster at her hip. “Well, do you at least have any ideas of what we could do? Us well-trained huntsmen and huntresses haven’t even been able to land a hit on Vermillion.”

“He is strong, but I imagine that strength must come from somewhere. I urge you to observe him closely the next time that you face him.”

Ruby’s shoulders slumped. “Not that that isn’t useful advice, but do you have anything else?”

Oscar grinned. “In fact I do. I happen to have a few secrets that I have kept, even from the faculty at Beacon.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow and listened attentively.

___

 

The scarlet-cloaked huntress exited the jail with a look of determination on her face.

“Well, there she is,” Vermillion said. “How was your chat with Oz? Enlightening?”

Ruby looked at him, her expression unchanging. “I want to fight.”

Vermillion actually looked surprised. “Right here? Now?”

Ruby glanced at the guards in front of the building. “No, not here,” she said. Then she activated her semblance and grabbed Vermillion, speeding along.

She had expected Vermillion to struggle, but he seemed content to be taken wherever she was going. However, he seemed more than prepared when Ruby’s leg started throbbing with pain and she went tumbling across the ground. He landed on his feet and walked out the rest of the momentum.

They had ended up on one of Vale’s elevated highways, the same one on which Sun and Blake were chased by the Atlesian Paladin. It was sparsely populated by cars, as it was now night and past Vermillion’s mandatory curfew.

As Ruby struggled back to her feet, Vermillion smirked.

“Well, it seems you’ve chosen your battlefield,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little backstory for ya'.
> 
> I'm exhausted, but I hope you aren't. Have a good, energetic day!


	19. Highway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby vs. Vermillion

“So let me guess,” Vermillion said. “Your sudden insistence on fighting me is because Ozpin told you to 'be patient and study my actions’ or something like that.”

Ruby just glared at him.

“Yeah, I thought so,” the tyrant said. “You know, if you want to know how I’ve been beating you guys, you  _ could _ just ask.”

“You would just lie,” Ruby responded.

“Try me. Ask me any question,” Vermillion said, taking a non-combative stance.

Ruby squinted her eyes a bit in thought. “What’s your semblance?”

Vermillion grinned. “You  _ are  _ clever! That’s always the right question to ask, isn’t it?” Then he began slowly walking around Ruby. “My semblance is that I can view the world at any speed I want to. In combat, that means that I can see everything in slow motion. And that means that any attack thrown at me is extremely telegraphed. So, you really shouldn’t feel bad. I mean, how are you supposed to beat someone that sees everything you do coming?”

Vermillion gazed at Ruby, and saw the disappointed expression she was harboring.

“What, were you hoping for some kind of glaring weakness that you could exploit? Some kind of 'terms and conditions’ to my semblance?”

Ruby growled at him. “You really talk too much.”

“Alright,” Vermillion said, drawing his swords. “Let’s skip the talking part, then.”

Ruby glared at him as she unfolded Crescent Rose, and then she charged in.

She ducked under the swipe of one sword, then sidestepped an overhead slice from the other. She wasn’t going to go in guns blazing this time. She needed to find a weakness.

For a while, it was just Vermillion swinging and Ruby dodging. She bided her time, watching her opponent’s every move, until she finally found an opening. It was the time to strike.

Unfortunately, it was a bait. As she went in to strike, Vermillion dodged and then hit Ruby with several slices in a row.

“You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” Vermillion said. “But the last time you and your team were fighting someone here, you weren’t fast enough to catch  _ him _ either, huh?”

Ruby got back to her feet. “Why do you know about that?”

“When you’re looking for information on some of the biggest heroes of Remnant, you can find just about anything with a little digging,” Vermillion said. “You’d be surprised what I know.” He looked to his left and saw a car coming down the highway. As it passed by, he jumped on its roof and let it carry him further down the road, before jumping off and rolling back to his feet, now with much more distance between him and his combatant.

Ruby glared at his figure, then activated her semblance. She sped towards him, trailing rose petals.

“One,” Vermillion said, before kicking Ruby in the gut mid-semblance. Her momentum sent her skidding along the asphalt. “I know that you can’t attack with your weapon while using your semblance, and that your injured leg has drastically decreased your speed.”

Ruby got back to her feet, and immediately was faced with an onslaught of sword attacks. She was able to block most of them with Crescent’s shaft, but one stab got through and sent her flying backwards, her aura beginning to flicker.

“Two: I know that, despite your best efforts, you’ve been unable to get your silver eyes to affect any enemy who isn’t Grimm or a maiden.”

Ruby got back up again, but was immediately hit with a punch to the face that took care of the rest of her aura and knocked her back onto the road.

“And three: I know that a scythe has a minimum effective range,” Vermillion said over her. “Face it, Rose. You can’t beat me. But I appreciate that you keep trying anyways. It’s really something to look forward to when dealing with all of the whining, ungrateful citizens.”

Ruby spat at him. “You really don’t care about the people, do you?”

“I certainly wish they were more cooperative,” Vermillion said. “I’m trying to make their world a better place, and they keep trying to resist it like you huntsmen are. That’s why I’ve had to make examples of so many of them, and yet they just keep fighting every change I make.”

“Maybe if you stopped being so dictatorial and severe, they might listen,” Ruby said.

Vermillion looked back down at her. “You’re a good leader, Ruby Rose, but you would make a terrible ruler.” Then he kneeled down next to her head. “Sweet dreams,” he said, before punching her in the face.

___

 

Ruby woke up a little less than an hour later with a massive headache and exactly where Vermillion had left her. She slowly got to her feet and put her scythe back on her hip, and then she trudged back into Vale, still making sure to avoid the security cameras.

Before heading to the entrance back into the vault, Ruby found the alleyway near the Dust Till Dawn. Going through her normal routine, she was pleasantly surprised to find a oblong box inside of the trash can instead of just a note. She took it out, and there was a piece of paper taped on top of it.

 

_ This is the third time I’ve tried to send this. It had better make it this time! _

_ -W.S. _

 

Ruby grinned as she opened the box. Yep, it was exactly what she had expected. She closed it and headed back to the vault, with a certain skip in her step that had been absent earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh boy! New things!
> 
> Have a goody goody day!


	20. Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh.

A week and a half passed rather uneventfully. Vermillion went to Mistral to take care of some issues at the stronghold there, and in his absence the huntsmen sent a team to attack Kopec’s stronghold. But they failed to take it, as invading a stronghold was difficult enough without robot reinforcements being sent in to thwart the attack. The huntsmen who were sent on the mission returned disgruntled and annoyed.

They had heard word that Gold did not go with Vermillion to Mistral, and that was just fine news to hear. It meant that Blake could do some more spy-work without having to constantly trail behind the tyrant.

But the relief from Vermillion’s presence didn’t last forever.

Ren quietly came into the Vault from the Forever Fall entrance.

Jaune noticed him enter. “Any news?”

“Yes,” Ren said. “A bullhead just touched down. Vermillion has returned to Vale.”

“Good!” Nora said. “It means we’ll probably get another chance to beat him soon!”

Ruby grinned and leaned on the war table, shaking her head. “Ever the optimist, Nora.” But then she straightened up. “But she’s right. Now’s probably a good time to set our next plans into place.”

“We making plans over here?” Yang said, walking to the others with her hands interlaced on her head.

“Yeah,” Ruby said. “How’s Yin?”

“Still asleep,” Yang said, pointing a thumb towards her daughter’s makeshift bed far across the Vault.

“Moon?” Ruby asked.

“Patrolling with Nina,” Yang said. “They say hi to you guys, by the way.”

“I’ll make sure to say hi when they come back,” Jaune said. “In the meantime, we should get to work on a strategy on how to most inconvenience Vermillion.”

Yang frowned. “If it were up to me, I would do a lot more than inconvenience him. I would make his plans come to a very abrupt and permanent end.”

Jaune sighed. “I know that you’re still very angry at him for 'killing’ Blake, but you need to think with your head right now, not your muscles.”

“Meh, thinking with your head is overrated,” Nora said.

“We don’t have the manpower for a full-on assault of Vermillion’s headquarters,” Ren said. “We can’t deal with Vermillion directly, at least not yet.”

“Yeah, Oscar gave us a piece for the puzzle, but we need to find the right way to fit it in,” Ruby said. “Sorry Sis, but we’re going to have to be patient about this.”

Yang huffed, then plopped into a chair around the table. “Fine. I’m not happy about it, but fine.”

Nora gave her a one-armed hug. “Don’t worry. We’ll get ‘em eventually!”

“Yeah…” Yang said.

“And when we do, Vermillion’s gonna pay,” Coco said, walking up to the war table.

Ruby nodded. “He’s caused us plenty of problems, and he’s going to regret it.”

Yang closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna put a fist in his smug face.”

Jaune smiled. “Good to hear. Now, what’s-”

He cut himself off when he heard the elevator chime. They  _ never _ used the elevator.

All of the huntsmen in the room grabbed their weapons and entered a fighting stance, facing the elevator doors.

They slowly slid open, and Vermillion stepped out, followed by a very concerned-looking Gold.

“Hello there, huntsmen and huntresses!” Vermillion called out as he took a few steps into the Vault.

Everyone stared at him in shock. Ruby sputtered out, “Vermillion… how did you…?”

“Oh please, you really thought that I wouldn’t know about this place?” Vermillion smirked. “Cinder Fall enters the CCT, and then no one sees her until she suddenly has the full powers of a maiden? I knew there had to be a secret area underneath the tower.”

Jaune started, “But-”

“And Watts helped me work around the whole 'aura lock’ thing,” Vermillion said. “It may have to do with aura, but it’s still mechanical. And if it’s mechanical, it can be hacked.”

Ruby glared at him while aiming with Crescent Rose. “And why the sudden decision to pay us a visit now?”

Vermillion sighed. “You guys are causing more trouble than you think. Kopec’s really frustrated at me for letting you go so many times, and even Violet and Octavian are starting to take his side on this.” He drew a sword. “So, I’ve come here to take care of a few of you. Lighten the load, so to speak.”

Coco leveled her minigun at him. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Vermillion said. Then he quickly drew his pistol and shot Ruby twice in the aura around her head, sending her sailing backwards.

Coco was the first to react. She started firing a hail of bullets at Vermillion, only to have him block every one of them with only one sword. Now that they knew his semblance, it made sense how he was able to do that. It didn’t make it any less infuriating, though.

Ren prepared to fire Stormflower, but he had to dive behind a pillar as Vermillion repeatedly shot him with his other hand. Then Vermillion holstered his pistol and dug a fire dust crystal out of his pocket, immediately lobbing it at Coco.

When Coco realized what he was doing, it was too late. The crystal fell directly in front of her weapon’s barrel and her bullets ignited it, sending her and several other huntsmen flying. A few of the students from Beacon charged in, but were easily repelled. Then Jaune went in, sword and shield raised, and, though he fared better than the Beacon students, he was overwhelmed and had his entire aura drained in a flurry of strikes. As he backed up, Nora started firing grenades at their assailant. Said assailant rolled out of the way of the explosives and fired back mercilessly. Reese tried firing, but was met with a similar outcome.

Yang blasted in with furious punches that any other man would have been unable to dodge. She fired round after round from her gauntlets, but she may as well have been firing blanks.

“You’re going to die, you son of a bitch!” she shouted at him while attacking.

“I highly doubt it,” Vermillion said, sidestepping another punch. Then he jabbed her in the aura around her belly, uppercutted her to the face, and kicked her across the room.

Then Ruby was back on her feet, and immediately made her way to the other side of the room. From there, she started sniping at Vermillion. He wasn’t able to fire back from that range, but he was still able to block the sniper shots. Through her scope, Ruby could see Blake (in disguise) standing against the wall next to the elevator, trying to decide whether to stay concealed and let the others handle this or to attack and ruin her disguise. It seemed that she was currently choosing the former.

Yatsuhashi and Ren shared a look, then charged in to attack at the same time. Vermillion, now with two swords, expertly blocked them both. He systematically cut away both of their auras, and then sent Yatsuhashi stumbling backwards with a kick to the chest. A sword came toward Ren’s head, which he blocked with both pieces of Stormflower.

But that left him open to the blade that went through his gut.

There was a stunned pause to the battle as everyone watched Ren’s body, impaled on a sword.

“I always liked combat, but I never enjoyed killing,” Vermillion said to him. “I just want you to know that I take no pleasure in this.”

Vermillion kicked Ren off of his sword, then immediately heard Nora’s scream of rage. He crossed his swords above his head to catch the hammer that the redhead was bringing down on him.

“Nora, be careful!” Jaune called, still unable to wipe the shock from his face.

But Nora didn’t hear him through the rage pulsing in her ears. She swung and missed a few times and took a couple of hits, but didn’t show any intention of retreating.

“Nora, heads up!” Neptune yelled as he put his goggles on. He fired an electric shot at the hammer-wielder, and the energy went straight to her muscles.

Nora lifted her hammer over her head, then brought it down with an incredible amount of force. Unfortunately, it missed entirely, shattering the ground instead. As Nora turned to see where her enemy had gone, she got a slash across her chest, and then two blades through her midsection.

Her hammer clattered to the ground, and Vermillion pulled his blood-stained swords out of her body, which slumped to the ground.

He put one of his swords away and drew his pistol at Jaune, who was irrationally trying to get to his teammates to heal them.

“Ah ah ah! I don’t think so,” Vermillion said. “You don’t even have any aura left to give them. Now back up before I have to kill the resistance’s 'fearless leader’ too.”

But then his head jerked forward as a bullet hit his aura. Another brief stunned silence occurred, as none of the huntsmen had ever seen him get hit.

“I was wondering when you would finally reveal yourself,” Vermillion said, blocking a few more bullets from Blake’s submachine gun, but promptly returning his gaze to Jaune.

“You knew?!” Blake shouted from across the room, tearing her wig off.

“We’re in the age of robots, rift devices, and facial-recognition software,” Vermillion said. “I wasn’t exactly threatened. I’ve beaten you before, after all. I just kept bringing you on missions because I wanted to see how long your little ‘ruse’ would last. But I am impressed. Not a lot of people get a hit on me.” He then blocked a few more of her shots. “I do have a gun trained on your friend, though, so I would suggest you stop that.”

Blake reluctantly lowered her gun.

___

 

Yin woke up to the sound of an explosion. Then gunshots and shouting. She slowly pulled herself out of her bed, and then walked out of the little cubicle that was made for her.

She saw several huntsmen getting up from the ground, her mother lowering her gun on the other end of the room, and Vermillion standing above two bleeding bodies and aiming a gun directly at Jaune’s face.

Not a great sight to wake up to.

Yin started walking toward the commotion, and Vermillion suddenly noticed her.

“Hey, if it isn’t Yin Belladonna,” he said. “I haven’t seen you since before I became king! I like the new arm!”

Yin glanced down to her right side and, sure enough, there was a yellow-and-black mechanical arm upon her stump. Shiny and new.

“You know you’re responsible for this,” she responded.

Vermillion rolled his eyes. “Of course I know that. You were one of the most important pieces in my takeover.”

“Your takeover sucks and you’re a dick,” Yin said.

Vermillion shook his head. “What is with you people and not being conducive to a better future?”

“Maybe it’s the fact that the future you want,” she said, pointing at Vermillion, “isn’t the one anyone else wants.” Then, still pointing at Vermillion with her robotic arm, she said, “And that arm you mentioned?”

Vermillion cocked an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Then the pistol was shot out of his hand. “It’s also a gun, asshole.”

And then every gun was trained on Vermillion. He frantically grabbed his other sword as bullets, energy, dust and light orbs all shot towards him. He had to continually back up to be able to block the shots, and even so he was still hit by a few. When he had retreated far enough, Jaune grabbed Stormflower and added  to the rain of projectiles. Then Vermillion was backed up all the way to the elevator.

“Give it up, Vermillion,” Ruby said. “You’ve lost.”

Vermillion, despite everything, gave a small grin. “I may be the one retreating,” then he looked behind the huntsmen. “I’m not convinced that I’m the one who lost.”

Yang charged forward at him, but the elevator doors closed and her fist simply left a large dent.

Everyone looked to where Vermillion had, and saw Ren and Nora’s bodies on the floor, their auras flaring up.

And Nora’s hand was over Ren’s as they both dissolved into dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EVERYONE'S GOING TO HATE ME FOR THIS!!!!
> 
> Also, sorry it's late. Got caught up playin' Overwatch.
> 
> Have a better day than Ren and Nora!


	21. Grieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens after.

Moon and Nina knew something had happened as soon as they walked into the Vault. Ruby was comforting Jaune, Yang had her mechanical arm jammed in the elevator doors, and there was a splatter of blood on the floor. Something had gone horribly wrong.

“Mom… it’s great to finally see you,” Yin said.

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” Blake said, but she still pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

When they pulled away, Yin smiled a little. “Hey, at least it’s something to be happy abou- AH!” She crumpled forward, grabbing at her robotic arm, which was sparking around where it connected to her stump.

“Yin? What’s happening?!” Blake tried to support her daughter.

Yang finally pried her arm out from the elevator doors and was about to see what was going on with Yin, but then Ruby tapped on her shoulder.

“Hey, can you go fill in Moon and Nina on what happened? I can help Yin,” she said.

Yang paused, and then nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”

As the blonde huntress left, Ruby started examining Yin’s arm.

“Ruby, what’s going on with her?” Blake demanded.

“A lot of us are skilled mechanics, but none of us really have medical skill,” Ruby said. “She really wanted the arm, and we did our best. But I think it might be connected to a nerve wrong.” Ruby pressed a button and the arm disconnected, instantly relaxing Yin’s form. Ruby sat on the floor and started fiddling with some switches in the back side of the arm.

“Yin, are you okay?” Blake asked, concerned.

Yin grinned up at her. “Peachy,” she said with a slightly pained voice.

Ruby sighed. “Alright, this should work better until we can get you a  _ real _ surgery,” she said, handing the arm back to Yin. Then she ran both of her hands through her hair in stress.

“Ruby, are  _ you _ okay?” Blake asked.

“Not really,” Ruby responded. “It’s… really hard to wrap my head around what just happened. I… I just can’t believe they’re gone… God…”

After making sure that Yin could support her own weight, Blake sat down next to Ruby and wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a friendly side-hug.

“That’s at least the fourth friend I’ve had to watch die… I mean, I guess you don’t really count because you’re still alive, but still… why do all the people I care about have to get hurt?” Tears started to fall out of Ruby’s eyes, and she tried to hold them back.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Let them out,” Blake comforted, moving her hand to rub her sister-in-law’s back.

___

 

Jaune sat on the floor against a pillar with his face in his hands, trying desperately to control his shaky breathing. He almost missed the sound of the footsteps walking up to him.

When he uncovered his eyes, he expected it to be Ruby, but he was surprised to see purple eyes and a wild mane of yellow hair.

“Y-Yang…” he managed.

“Hey,” Yang said, with sympathy evident in her tone. “Mind if I sit with you?”

Jaune weakly nodded and shifted a little to his right, more as a courtesy than to make space.

Yang took a seat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not going to sugar-coat it. This sucks, and I’m really sorry that it happened.”

Jaune pulled his knees closer to himself. “... I’m the last surviving member of my team.”

Yang nodded. “The universe has not been very fair to you.”

Jaune took a deep, shaky breath. “I just… I feel like if I was stronger, I could have prevented it.”

But then Yang shifted a bit to look at Jaune more directly. “You’re stronger than you think. When I thought that Blake had died, I ran away. I dealt with it about as poorly as I could have.” Yang gave a small smile. “But you’re still here. You’re still willing to fight. You did the same thing with Pyrrha. You’ve lost so much, but you still have three times the courage of anyone else I’ve ever known.” Then she got back to her feet, and her eyes turned red. “And we’re going to make Vermillion regret what he did to Ren and Nora. Count on it.”

___

 

Moon stared down at the pool of blood, and her stomach twisted. Two of her parents’ closest friends, two people she had known her entire life, were dead. And she hadn’t even been there to try to prevent it. Even Nina’s comforting hug was all but lost in the guilt of not having done something.

“Moon, staring at it isn’t going to help anyone.”

Moon looked up to see her sister walking over to her.

“Once again, I wasn’t able to prevent someone I care about from getting hurt,” Moon said. “It’s becoming a repeating trend.”

“Moon, stop talking like that,” Nina said, with a warning in her voice. “How would you have known? And what would you have done? Vermillion is stronger than all of us. You probably would’ve just put yourself in more danger, which I will not stand for.”

Yin grinned. “Have I mentioned that I like your girlfriend? She knows what she’s talking about.”

Moon just kept staring at the bloodstain.

Nina released her hug, then cupped Moon’s face between her hands and gave her a quick kiss. Then she firmly said, “Stop.”

Moon took a deep breath. “It just… I wish people would stop getting hurt.”

Yin hugged her. “Don’t we all?”

Moon hugged back. “Yeah.” Then, when they parted from the hug, she said, “How’s the arm?”

Yin felt at her prosthetic. “Um, a little troublesome. But it feels good to be back in the game.”

Moon smiled. “Good to hear.”

Nina started examining the arm, though. “I helped install this! What’s wrong with it?”

“Spontaneous nerve pain,” Yin said, smirking.

“Oh,” Nina said. “Yeah, don’t know how to help with that.”

“Ruby already fiddled with a couple of settings, it should be fine now,” Yin said.

“Good, we’ll need you as close to 100% as we can get you,” Moon said. “Someone deserves some payback.”

Yin grinned.

___

 

“Yang.”

Blake walked up to her wife and promptly sweeped her into a long, passionate kiss. When they parted, they were both out of breath.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long,” Blake said.

Yang didn’t respond, other than by pulling herself back up to kiss Blake a second time.

When they parted again, Blake chuckled. “Wow, you really missed me, huh?”

Yang’s expression turned serious. “Please don’t joke about that, Blake. I was broken when you were gone.”

Blake sombered up. “Sorry…”

Blake pulled Yang back onto her feet, but didn’t remove her hands from the blonde’s back. Yang wrapped her arms around the faunus and held her close.

They just stood like that in silence for a while, but eventually Yang’s grip loosened a bit.

“I ran away,” she said.

“Huh?”

“I ran away when you died. I left behind Ruby, Weiss, Yin, Moon… I’m a terrible mother.”

Blake looked Yang straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. You’re completely wrong.”

Yang shook her head. “No I’m not.”

“Yes you are,” Blake said, giving Yang another, quicker kiss. “I hate it when you blame yourself. None of this is your fault. Sure, you couldn’t handle what happened, but we all make bad choices sometimes, especially when we’re in distress.” Then Blake let her arms drop from Yang. “There’s only one person to blame for all of this.”

Yang nodded. “We’re going to get Vermillion for this.” She clenched her fists. “He’s going to pay for everything he’s done. To you, to me, to everyone in this Vault. And to everyone in Remnant. He’s going down.”

Blake smiled and gave Yang one final kiss. They parted, and Blake said, “I love it when you’re feisty.”

Yang finally smiled, and then laughed like it was the funniest joke she had heard in months. Then Blake joined in the laughing, and then they were both giggling like lovestruck idiots. Once the laughing subsided, they simply gazed into each other’s eyes for a few moments.

“Ruby may want to talk to you,” Yang finally said.

“I already talked to her after she fixed Yin’s arm,” Blake responded.

“I’m not talking about catching up,” Yang said. “I think you’re the final piece in a plan to end this war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some stuff is about to go down.
> 
> Three chapters left to go! I'm excited!


	22. Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time.

Vermillion sat in the control room in the sixth floor of his tower. The room was filled with screens, smaller ones that the tower’s staff were analyzing and one big one directly in front of the chair that was pretty much considered his throne.

He sighed quietly to himself. Even though he had been acting unconcerned when he attacked the Vault a couple of weeks prior, it had shaken him. He had never been pressured like that before, and he still wasn’t incredibly happy with the fact that his followers had forced his hand into killing two of the huntsmen. In a way, he found the huntsmen admirable, the fact that against all odds they would keep fighting. Well, he supposed that two of them wouldn’t get that chance anymore.

His scroll buzzed. He placed it into a compartment in the armrest of his throne, and the caller ID popped up on the big screen. It was Kopec.

“ _ Vermillion. _ ”

Vermillion sighed and rubbed his temples. “I don’t suppose this is a call to congratulate me on taking care of two of those huntsmen you seem to hate so much.”

“ _ God damnit, Vermillion, for once in your life take something seriously. _ ”

Vermillion frowned. “Kopec, we’ve been friends for a long time, but that does not give you the right to talk to your ruler like that.”

“ _ All of the huntsmen are attacking my stronghold, Vermillion. _ ”

Vermillion paused. “All of them? They must have gotten desperate after my attack on the Vault.”

“ _ I don’t think you’re getting my full meaning. All of the huntsmen are attacking my stronghold. Not just the ones from the Vault. _ ”

Vermillion quirked an eyebrow. “Wait, do you mean-”

He was cut off when his scroll automatically switched to a different caller.

“ _ Vermillion, this is Forest. Come in. _ ”

“Forest,” Vermillion replied. “You usually have everything pretty much under control at your stronghold. The fact that you’re calling me is… disconcerting to say the least.”

“ _ The situation’s pretty bad over here. What once was the Atlas military is attacking, with a Schnee leading the charge. They have way more men than we do. We need immediate backup. _ ”

The line switched again. “ _ Vermillion, sir, this is Lieutenant Jameson from Vale Stronghold Number Two. _ ”

“Stronghold Two? Where’s Violet?”

“ _ She’s already facing Division Three, sir. They’re attacking in full force. _ ”

Vermillion gripped the armrests of his chair so hard that his knuckles turned white. “What is happening?!”

___

 

A soldier was making his normal rounds of the Mistral stronghold when he saw something in the distance.

“Contact,” he said over his earpiece.

“What do you see?” asked a female soldier over the radio channel.

The man looked more closely at the approaching figure, and quickly realized that it wasn’t a person or Grimm.

“Sorry, false alarm. It’s just a bird,” he said.

The black bird landed on a post next to him and looked at him with its red eyes.

___

 

Vermillion ran a hand angrily through his hair. “So you just  _ let _ Raven Branwen into the stronghold?!”

There was a pause on the line, then the soldier on the other end said, “ _ Octavian told me to say that if it made you feel better, the soldier that let it happen was the first one to die. _ ”

“And now one woman is decimating all of the troops in my Mistral stronghold.”

“ _ Actually, she opened a portal and now all of the tribes of Anima are at our doorstep and working together to attack us. _ ”

Vermillion growled. “Octavian, you’re running that stronghold for a reason. Take care of this.”

There was another pause. “ _ He says 'Okay, fine. We’ll just kill all of the most dangerous people in Anima ourselves. No big deal.’... oh, wait, I wasn’t supposed to say any of that last part. Sorry! _ ”

Vermillion glared at nothing in particular. “Vermillion out,” he said. But just as he was about to hang up, another call came in.

“ _ Vermillion, sir, this is Vale Outpost Number Three. _ ”

Vermillion slammed his fist on his armrest. “God damnit, what? What’s happening to  _ your  _ stronghold?!”

He could almost hear the soldier flinch on the other end of the line. Then she said, “ _ We’re being attacked by Yin and Moon Belladonna. _ ”

Vermillion threw something. He didn’t really pay attention to what it was, but he knew that it was heavy and probably expensive. “Two huntresses are too much for the soldiers there to handle?!” he shouted.

“ _ Well... they have help. _ ”

___

 

A white, shining bullet crashed into a soldier’s armor and sent him flying.

The grey-haired man lowered his leg after firing the round. “Your mom owes me big time after this is all over.”

Yin ran up next to him. “Um, how about giving you a chance at redemption after you helped in almost destroying the world, Mercury? Is that good enough payment for you?”

Mercury’s shoulders slumped. “Alright, I see your point.”

Emerald streaked by them. “Less talking, more attacking,” she called back.

Yin retracted her wrist blades and put her hands on her hips. “Was she always like this?” she asked.

Mercury nodded and said, “It was unbearable.”

Moon smiled back at them as she ran past, and said, “God, you guys really  _ are _ distractible!” Then, when she had to abruptly stop in order to not get shot in the face, she said, “I’m putting up a flash!”

The other three covered their eyes as Moon activated her semblance, glowing white and then becoming a blinding flash. The humans and faunus in the stronghold stumbled about with their vision and hearing temporarily dysfunctional.

“Okay, let’s go!” Moon shouted as she lifted her double-scythe and prepared to strike.

Yin grinned as her wrist blades slid out, the one on her left from her weapon and the one on her right from the hand itself. She also flipped the gun open on the side of her right hand.

She was loving this arm.

___

 

Vermillion was seething with anger. His enemy was making a big move, and he hadn’t seen it coming.

“Call the CCT!” he shouted at one of the men at the consoles. The man complied very, very quickly.

“ _ Hello, this is the Vale CCT. We have you, Control Tower. _ ”

“CCT, I have urgent orders for you.”

“ _ Oh! Vermillion! Sir! How can I- _ ”

“Can it. I need you to send robots to Kopec’s stronghold.”

“ _ A-alright. How many do you need sent? _ ”

“All of them. Every. Single. One. You hear me?” Vermillion grated his teeth together.

“ _ Are you sur- _ ”

“DON’T question my judgement.”

“ _ Alright. Sending all units to Vale Stronghold Number One. _ ”

“Thank you.” Vermillion reached over his technician to hang up. “Someone get a bullhead prepped for me. I have places to be.”

___

 

“Okay, they just sent all of the robots off,” Ruby said, taking her ear off of the door of the elevator.

“Perfect,” Blake said, taking her finger off of the ‘close door’ button.

Yang looked at the small army of what used to be the Vale police that was gathered in the back of the elevator. She counted down from three on her fingers.

When she hit one, Blake opened the door.

“FREEZE! VALE POLICE!” the policemen shouted, raising their guns.

There were two guards, on either side of the door, that drew their guns. Yang decked the one on the left in the face, and Weiss used a glyph to smash the one on the right into the wall.

Ruby grinned. “Good to have you back, Weiss.”

“Likewise,” Weiss said with a small smile.

All of the other men in the room were just technicians, who put their hands in the air almost immediately. As did Watts, who was standing in the middle of the room, though a little smug smile didn’t leave his face while he did it. The policemen started pulling the men into the elevator, and as Watts was led past Blake, he gave her a little wink. Then Yang flipped him off directly in the face.

Once the policemen had the elevator filled and brought the criminals down with them, it was only team RWBY and a couple of policemen left in the communication room.

“Blake, can you disable the robots?” Ruby asked.

Blake was already at a terminal, putting in a password. When the computer accepted it, she said, “Passwords were one of the many things that I picked up while I was undercover. Sloppy of Vermillion not to have them changed.”

“And that’s the evil of hubris at work,” Weiss said.

Blake grinned, and then deactivated the robots.

___

 

“Vermillion, sir, your bullhead is ready.”

“Good,” Vermillion said. “I want to set out for Stronghold Three ASAP.”

But then the big screen came to life. In fact, every screen in the room came to life, including every scroll.

“Attention, citizens of Remnant,” said Ruby Rose’s voice over the screens. Then they all displayed a live feed of team RWBY.

“We are reporting to you  _ live _ from the Vale CCT,” Yang said with a huge, cocky grin on her face. “Yes, that’s right, we’ve taken it back.”

“In fact, we’re taking a lot of places back as we speak,” Weiss said.

“You’ve been ruled under this oppressive dictator for too long,” Blake said. “He’s taken away your rights, your jobs, and he’s tried to take away your hope.” Then she lifted her scroll, which was playing the video of her false death. “Vermillion used me as the start of his reign of terror, so I plan to play a big part in how his reign ends.”

Ruby nodded, then glanced at her own scroll. “Why don’t we show you what we mean?”

The screens all shifted to a feed of the Atlas stronghold, which was being besieged by the Atlas military, Winter Schnee leading the charge.

“Vermillion didn’t count on one thing- us huntresses will never give up as long as the people are still in trouble,” Weiss said.

The screens changed again, this time showing the outside of Violet’s stronghold. Smoke was billowing from the inside of the camp.

“He thinks that he’s making the world better, but all he’s done is flaunt his rulership,” Blake said. “I don’t care if your great great grandfather was the king of Vale, Vermillion, you were never meant to rule.”

The screens changed again to the feed of Stronghold Three, where Moon, Yin, Mercury and Emerald were standing victorious over Vermillion’s soldiers.

“Meanwhile all of you were being denied the rights that you deserved,” Yang said. “Humans and faunus both were being treated terribly. But we won’t let it go any further! We’re ending this now.”

Again, the screen changed. Now it showed Kopec’s stronghold, with Jaune standing over his huge, unconscious form. Many of the huntsmen were tieing up the unconscious bodies of soldiers, including Sun and Ilia. In the background, Coco could be seen hugging Velvet tightly.

“Vermillion, this is where your reign of terror ends,” Ruby said. “Everyone, you’re free from the grasp of this tyrant!”

Vermillion punched one of the smaller screens and it shattered. He was not happy, to say the least. Then all of the screens returned to the live feed of team RWBY.

“Now we’ll let you bask in your liberation for a bit. We have a dictator to call,” Yang said, before all of the screens returned to their normal feeds. The screens that showed the city erupted with the sound of cheering. The citizens of all four kingdoms were rejoicing.

Then team RWBY once again appeared on the large screen.

“Hey Vermillion, you motherfucker,” Yang said with a huge smirk.

“How are you doing this?! How did you coordinate this?! You can’t contact anyone outside of the kingdom!” Vermillion sat exasperatedly back on his chair.

Ruby tsked. “You’ve got one huge weakness, Vermillion, and that’s that you assume everyone else is an idiot. Did you really think that Ozpin wouldn’t put more failsafes in place after the Fall of Beacon?”

Vermillion’s face flashed with realization. “He left a way to contact the other kingdoms without having to use the Vale CCT...”

Yang grinned even bigger. “You want to know the best part? It was buried right at your doorstep, in Forever Fall.”

Blake chimed in, “And I just happened to know how to get around in the forest, thanks to you keeping me nearby.”

“All it took was sending our best mechanic over there to activate it, and suddenly we could contact anyone we wanted to, without you knowing about it,” Yang said.

“And let me tell you, it was great to be able to contact my friends again. Thanks for making it so easy!” Weiss said.

“Men!” Vermillion called. “Search the surrounding area! Find who’s doing this!”

“You won’t find Nina,” Ruby said. “Several minutes ago, while we were talking, she freed all of the huntsmen that you had locked up in your prison, and they’re long gone by now.”

A couple of soldiers burst into the room. “Sir, the prison has been-”

“Yes, I know,” Vermillion said through his teeth without looking at them.

“It’s over, Vermillion,” Weiss said.

“I’m still here, so no, it’s not over,” Vermillion said, standing up.

Blake and Yang glanced at each other with a mutual understanding.

“You seem pretty mad, Vermillion,” Blake said. “In fact, I bet most of the people at your headquarters are feeling pretty  _ negative _ right now.”

Vermillion’s eyes narrowed. “What are you playing at?”

“Well, everyone else in the world seems pretty happy right now,” Yang said. “You wanted to deal with Remnant’s problems. Well, you’re going to have to deal with  _ all _ of Remnant’s problems.”

A giant Nevermore head busted through the screen.

Vermillion drew his swords. “NO!”

A Gryphon crashed through the wall to his right, and then another gobbled up one of the guards. In the floors below him, he could hear the sounds of Beowolves, Ursa, and Deathstalkers attacking his men.

Vermillion stood his ground and prepared for the Grimm to attack.

___

 

Yang stretched as they all exited the front door of the CCT.

“Well, that Nevermore had great dramatic timing,” she said.

“Yup,” Ruby said. Then she winked. “It was a pretty good plan, wasn’t it?”

“Alright, Ruby, don’t get a big head,” Weiss said, but she smiled regardless. “It’s really great to see you all again. Especially you, Blake. I’m really glad that you aren’t dead.”

Blake smiled and nodded, but didn’t respond as she typed into her scroll. Then she pressed send and said, “Done. Moon and Yin will meet us here, and then Ace will fly us to the rendezvous point.” Then she turned to Weiss. “And yes, I’m really happy that we’re all together again.”

Then they saw a bullhead pass by a building and start heading towards them.

“Wow, he  _ is  _ fast,” Weiss said.

Yang grinned cockily. “I guess when you save the world for a  _ second _ time, people start treating you to the best.”

But as the bullhead approached, it didn’t start turning to present its doors. It didn’t even start slowing down. It just started diving towards them.

“Get out of the way!” Blake shouted, tackling her wife to the side. Ruby and Weiss took her advice and dove out of the path of the ship.

When the bullhead hit the ground, it started making a horrid screeching noise as it slid along the concrete, leaving a crevice in its wake.

The bullhead crashed into one of the side pillars of the CCT and exploded. But before it did, a figure leaped out of the ship. And, silhouetted by the fire from the explosion, that figure drew two short katanas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUNNNNN... agaaaaaiiiiiinnnn!


	23. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting early, because things are happening later today.

“You fucking psychopaths!!!” Vermillion shouted. His red clothes were stained in several places with a darker shade of crimson.

“I’m sorry, are  _ you _ of all people telling  _ us  _ that?” Yang said, prepping her gauntlets.

“You killed two of our close friends, Vermillion,” Ruby said hostilely.

“And  _ you _ killed everyone who was in that tower,” Vermillion said, and then he gestured to the stains on his outfit. “This isn’t my blood. You’ve gotten rid of  _ everyone _ who believed in a better future!”

“We believe in a better future, Vermillion,” Weiss said. “It’s just not yours.”

Ruby drew Crescent Rose. “I’m going to say this one last time: it’s over, Vermillion.”

Vermillion’s eyes were filled with rage, which the image of a burning bullhead behind him only helped to accentuate. “Oh, I know that,” he said. “I have no supporters left to help me. You’ve destroyed every pillar that my philosophies were standing on. No one will ever follow my ideals anymore.” He looked among the four huntresses with evident hatred. “I’m going down, but I’m going to take all of you with me!”

“We’ve beaten you before,” Blake said, taking out Gambol Shade, now the  _ third _ copy of this weapon.

“You beat me when you had way more manpower,” Vermillion said. “And you’ve  _ never _ fought me while I’m this angry!”

Ruby sighed. “Nothing we say is going to make you surrender peacefully, is it?”

Vermillion shook his head. “Someone’s dying today.” And then he got into a fighting stance.

For a while, nobody made a move. Vermillion just slowly circled the four huntresses. It was silent, save for their breathing. And then Vermillion charged.

Yang was the first to meet his attack. She went for a powerful punch with her mechanical fist, but Vermillion leaned out of the way and, with two flicks of a sword across Yang’s aura, sent her stumbling backwards. Then Ruby came mfrom above with her scythe, which Vermillion caught by crossing his blades above his head. Then, in a blinding flurry of slashes, Ruby’s aura was gone.

_ Jesus, he means business _ , Ruby thought as she fell back.

Vermillion hit his chest with the handles of his swords. “COME ON!” he shouted.

Blake and Weiss both attacked with their swords, and were once again bested by Vermillion’s skill and semblance. Weiss barely stepped back with any aura at all.

Then Yang charged back in to attack in sync with her wife. Vermillion blocked a sword attack, kicked Yang in the solar plexus, and stabbed at Blake’s head all at the same time. Blake had to use one of her copies to take the hit and jumped back.

Yang continued throwing punches and firing dust, to little avail. But Weiss took it as an opening. She jabbed her sword into the ground and a summoning glyph appeared, from which her gigantic knight emerged.

Vermillion launched his blonde adversary away with a sword strike, and then saw Weiss’s summon. The summon raised its massive sword above its head, and then drove it down on the tyrant.

Vermillion caught the full force of the strike on his two crossed swords and then deflected the blade to the ground on his left. As the knight was bent forward by the momentum of its own attack, Vermillion stabbed its head from under the chin, and blue mist sprouted from the wound as the knight dissolved.

Weiss’s eyes widened, and she started summoning several Beowolves at the approaching dictator, all of which were cut down in a single strike. When Vermillion was within range, she made a lunge with Myrtenaster. He sidestepped it, caught Weiss by the throat, and threw her at the approaching Ruby. Both huntresses went to the ground.

“You’re holding back,” Vermillion said. “FIGHT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!”

___

 

Yin and Moon sauntered their way to the CCT.

“Well, what the hell are we going to do now that we don’t have a tyrant to overthrow?” Yin asked, smiling.

“ _ I’m _ going to make sure that Ruby stops walking on that leg,” Moon said. “And then I hope we can get everything worked out with our family. We both might want to hold out on missions for a little while.”

Yin nodded, closing her eyes and basking in the sunlight. “Now that we’ve killed off Vermillion, I’m willing to agree to a little bit of off-time.”

Moon squinted at the CCT, and then her eyes widened. “I think you counted him out too soon.”

Yin opened her eyes and looked. “Oh no,” she said. Both sisters shared a mutual glance, and then they rushed to team RWBY’s aid.

___

 

One more strike, and Yang’s aura was gone, too. Vermillion knocked Blake away at the same time.

“The saviors of the world, everyone!” he said to noone at all.

Then, out of nowhere, Moon and Yin started shooting at him. He blocked all of the shots, but his face did change to one of slight surprise.

“Ah, you two are back for a rematch!” he said. “Trust me, it’s not going to be pretty for you.”

He charged at the two faunus, ducked under a light orb, drew his pistol and shot Yin in the face, and then attacked Moon with blindingly fast strikes that she was only able to use her scythe to block a few of. When Vermillion let up on his assault, Moon staggered backwards, her red aura retreating from her body. Then Yin jumped back in, tried and failed to punch Vermillion with her metal fist, and was kicked away.

Weiss shot several icicles at Vermillion, but he was prepared for them. He shot his sidearm at Weiss and she had to create a wall of ice in front of her to protect herself. Blake shot ice dust at the tyrant’s sword, but he just broke the ice off by slamming his sword against her head. Moon tried to pounce on him from behind, and was quickly punched away.

Then Yang punched her metal fist at Vermillion, he sidestepped it, and then used his swords in a scissor motion to chop the prosthetic off. Yang doubled over in pain as sparks flew from the severed end.

“Yang!” Ruby cried. She shot herself forward with her rifle and prepared to strike, but was brought to an abrupt stop by two sword blades going through her gut. Just like Nora.

There was silence for a moment as everyone stared at what had just happened. Then Weiss started moving.

“You’re going to regret that!” she said as she lunged toward Vermillion.

He kicked Ruby off of his now-bloodstained swords and met Weiss’s strike. Then he kicked her side, making her spin involuntarily away from him, and sliced her across the back. A huge gash now was prominent and red on her back as she collapsed forward onto the ground.

“Stop hurting my family!” Moon yelled as she and Yin attacked.

Yin’s aura dropped after Vermillion’s sword raked across it, and then Moon got between the two to block another slash. Vermillion kicked her to the ground.

Ruby slowly turned her head on the ground to see Vermillion standing above Moon and driving a blade towards her throat. Something triggered inside her, seeing her niece about to die, and she wasn’t going to let it happen. Her silver eyes widened.

“NO!” she yelled.

A gigantic beam of white energy shot from Ruby’s eyes and exploded against Vermillion. He tumbled across the ground for a moment and his aura crackled around him.

Yin didn’t let the opportunity go to waste. She sliced her wrist-blades at him and landed a few hits on him before his daze seemed to wear off and he started blocking again.

But then Moon was back on her feet and activated her semblance too quickly for even Vermillion to react to it. He was blinded, and the two sisters landed strike after strike on him. His aura broke just as he got his vision back, and immediately kicked Moon back to the ground.

But Yin didn’t let up. She swung over and over, forcing Vermillion to back up towards the CCT. He blocked strike after strike and kept backing up until he thought he saw an opening. He raised his arm for an overhead slice.

And Yin’s blade went into his stomach.

For a moment Vermillion didn’t move. Then his arms dropped to his sides and his swords clattered to the ground. He stumbled backwards a few steps until his back was resting on the wall of the CCT.

“So… that’s it then…” he said.

Yin raised her arm at his head and prepared to fire the gun, but Yang’s left hand rested on her shoulder.

“No, I want to hear what he has to say,” Yang said, wincing as her severed arm violently sparked again. Yin lowered her arm.

“I wanted to make Remnant a better place, but I think I understand now,” Vermillion said, briefly glancing at Blake, who was worrying over Ruby’s wounds. “There’s no possible way to make Remnant better. No matter what you do, someone will oppose it.” Vermillion swallowed hard. “The poor in Mistral want the rich to suffer, and the rich want the poor to starve. Faunus everywhere will always be upset towards humans, and some humans will always hold hatred towards faunus. Vacuo wants to be in chaos, and will oppose anyone who tries to change it. Atlas is already too capitalistic to understand that they are letting themselves be ruled by corporations. And huntsmen and huntresses,” he gave a pained smirk, “they will always oppose change, no matter what it is, because they fear change itself. They-  _ you _ \- hold yourselves to old values and old codes. You’ll never change.”

Yang glared at him before stepping backwards to go help Weiss. Yin, however, stayed standing directly in front of Vermillion.

“I realize now that you can’t fix the problems of the people of Remnant, because the people  _ are  _ the problem. They want things to be better, but constantly resist any changes. It’s a paradox that can never be solved.”

Yin took a single step towards him and readied her blade as he took a deep breath.

“Oh well, live and learn, I guess,” he said. Then he dropped a handful of red dust crystals on the ground below him and rapidly drew his sidearm at them.

“Yin!” Blake yelled as she saw this.

The explosion was massive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music for this battle: Madness by Natewantstobattle.
> 
> And one more chapter remaining! Have a good day!


	24. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter.

Yin woke up in a hospital, and was surprised that she woke up at all.

“Huh?” was all she got out. She hurt all over, which was to be expected after being in the center of an explosion.

“You’re up!” she heard Blake say to her left.

“Don’t try to move too much,” she heard Moon, also to her left, say.

“I survived an explosion?” Yin said. Her memory was a little hazy, but the horrible, burning pain had been pretty memorable.

“Yep,” Yang said, on the same side as Blake and Moon. “You’re just that badass.”

Yin slowly turned her head towards them, and it wasn’t exactly a pretty sight. Moon had many bandages covering parts of her body, with little burn marks peeking out of the edges. Yang had a few, too, and had gauze over where her prosthetic had been forcefully removed. Blake looked like she hadn’t slept for a while. They all did, actually.

Yin grinned. “You all look like shit.”

Moon smirked back. “What, you thought that we would let you keep the explosion all to yourself?”

Yin chuckled a bit. Then she stopped herself. “Are Weiss and Ruby okay?”

“Present,” she heard from her other side. Yin turned her head to see Weiss sitting up in a similar hospital bed with a book in her lap. Behind her, on the other side of the room from Yin, was another bed which Ruby’s body was laying on.

Seeing Yin’s glance, Weiss said, “She’s going to be fine. She just needs more time to heal.”

Yin breathed an internal sigh of relief. Everyone made it out alive.

“She saved us all, you know,” Moon said. “She figured out how to hit him with her silver eyes just in time.”

Yin nodded. “Remind me to thank her later.”

“We have Ace to thank for picking us up,” Blake said. “As little as I like to admit it, he showed up right when we needed him to.”

Yin narrowed her eyes. “I have a question: is Vermillion dead?”

Yang nodded. “Very dead. He’s kind of a crisp.”

Yin made a small nod. “That’s good. I’m kind of surprised that the explosion killed him and I came out relatively unscathed, though.”

Everyone in the room suddenly became very somber and quiet.

“What?” Yin asked.

“Yin, please don’t freak out,” Moon said.

Yin slowly looked down at herself. Her mechanical arm was currently removed, probably to fix the sudden bursts of nerve pain that it caused, so her right arm was currently just a stub. She had burns all over her body, but miraculously there weren’t much more than Moon had. And other than that…

Oh. Her left leg was gone.

“Meh.”

Yang, Blake and Moon all looked confused.

“Not the reaction I was expecting,” Yang said.

“I mean, I already lost the arm. At this point, I don’t really care that much,” Yin said.

Blake quirked an eyebrow. “You know, I guess, one way or another, that’s sort of admirable.”

Then Yin snapped her head towards Weiss. “I still get a robot replacement, right?”

Weiss smirked. “Yes, Yin. The Schnee Dust Company will gladly make you a robot leg.”

“Okay, then I’m good,” Yin said.

Weiss brought a hand up to her chin. “We probably won’t be able to add any weapons to it, though, because it might interfere with the operation of your arm.”

Yin rolled her eyes with a smile. “Okay fine, non-lethal robot leg it is.”

Then the door to the room opened, and Nina stepped in. “Well, look who’s up,” she said.

“Hey Nina! How’d the whole ‘prison break’ thing go?” Yin asked.

“Pfft, that was two days ago. Get with the program, Yin,” Nina said with a joking grin.

Yin tried to flip her off with her right hand, realized it wasn’t there, and then flipped her off with her left hand instead.

“Whoa, no flipping off my girlfriend!” Moon said, still smiling. “We just beat a dictator. Can’t we have, like, a few days’ grace period before we start getting aggressive with each other?”

Nina put a finger to her temple. “I suppose I could postpone fighting your sister for a day or two,” she said, before sitting sideways in Moon’s lap and kissing her cheek.

“PDA,” Weiss said without looking up from her book.

Everyone laughed a bit. Then Yin asked, “Did everyone else end up alright?”

“Yeah, they did. Coco found Velvet, Jaune got a bit of vengeance, Winter got to have a triumphant victory, and Raven got to break some stuff,” Blake said. “It was a pretty eventful day for everyone.”

Yang stood up and peeked out the blinds of the window. “Vermillion’s reign may be over, but there’s still plenty of stuff that we have to clean up,” she said.

“We’re up to the challenge,” Yin said.

“Yeah, now that we’re all together, nothing can stop us,” Moon said.

“When do we start?” Nina asked.

“I think we start when I get my goddamn robot leg,” Yin said, eliciting a laugh from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all folks! This has certainly been... an experience for me, but I am walking out of it happy.
> 
> Stay tuned for the next installment, The Bridge, which is way more Sci-fi and a bit less dark. I think that even those of you who didn't like this one will enjoy it.
> 
> Bye, and have a great day.


End file.
